


Beating Hearts

by beta1alpha2omega3



Category: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)
Genre: All Proof Reading Done at 3AM, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enoch has trauma, M/M, Neurodivergent Enoch, Neurodiversity, Not Beta Read, Possessive Enoch O'Connor, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, punk enoch, we die like warriors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 15:21:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 43,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30057507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beta1alpha2omega3/pseuds/beta1alpha2omega3
Summary: A deep-dive into a neurodivergent Enoch with trauma.When Jacob Portman arrives at Miss Peregrine's home, Enoch is initially violently opposed to the idea of him.  Enoch lives in constant fear of abandonment, so he pushes people away before he can get attached.  Enoch tries making Jake leave, but when Jake doesn't, when he boards the ghost ship to live with the Peculiars for eternity, Enoch's feelings begin to change.A walkthrough of the movie and beyond, giving Enoch an internal dialogue that provides important insight into the character's feelings and elaborates on his neurodivergency that is mixed with trauma.PLEASE READ THE NOTES BEFORE CHAPTER 1!!!(This fic is finished, AO3 is just having problems when I try to set a chapter limit)
Relationships: Emma Bloom/Abraham Portman, Emma Bloom/Jacob Portman, Enoch O'Connor/Jacob Portman
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	1. The Fear of Abandonment

**Author's Note:**

> Chapters 1 and 2 are very different, please read the outlines to know if you would like to read only one chapter or both.  
> OUTLINE:  
> -CHAPTER 1  
> Can be read as a stand-alone, without chapter 2, but you won't get a relationship conclusion.  
> sticks close to canon (with a few exceptions), simply adding extra insight into the movie.  
> building character development and relationships.  
> Can be taken seriously.  
> -CHAPTER 2  
> Cannot be read as a stand-alone.  
> Not to be taken too seriously.  
> Not canon at all!  
> Me just making stuff up after the movie.  
> Breaks lore many times.  
> Me just having fun.  
> I know my audience for this ship so I gave you all a sexy scene at the end, NOT a sex scene. I was not comfortable writing anything more explicit.
> 
> Changes in scenes are indicated by this symbol ~ for convenience. If you need to take a break, these are good places to stop.
> 
> When I pasted the story in, the paragraph's spacing pasted inconsistently. So I'm sorry that the spacing at the beginning of the paragraphs is annoyingly inconsistent. I couldn't fix it no matter what I tried.  
> Also, AO3 is being finicky and not letting me insert a chapter limit, so there are only 2 chapters, there will only ever be 2 chapters to this story. However, If people like this story enough and they want me to make a follow-up fic to this one that dives into Enoch and Jake navigating their new relationship, I will happily do so in a series.

It all started when Miss Peregrine sent the kids out to gather Abe’s grandson from outside the loop. Enoch knew how excited the others were to meet him. Emma hadn’t stopped talking about it since Miss Peregrine told them he was on the island. Enoch had opted out of the little meet-and-greet, stating that he didn’t want to scare the kid off with his natural disposition. This was a lie of course, and Miss Peregrine knew that. Enoch wanted nothing to do with Abe’s grandson, he knew that the others would get attached, and he knew that Jake would eventually leave just as Abe had. Jake could live outside of the loop, he _did_ live outside the loop, he had a life and family, there was no way he would stay; but Enoch knew his friends would get attached to the kid, and be crushed when he left. Enoch could frame it in his head that he was looking out for his siblings, but deep down, he really knew he was protecting himself; protecting himself from the hurt that Abe had put him through, protecting himself from the pain that seeing jake would stir back up.

Enoch was heading down the stairs to gather new jars of animal hearts when he noticed Miss Peregrine, Olive, and Jake in the kitchen. Olive was pouring Jake a glass of hot water for tea. Enoch was particularly protective of Olive. He was protective of all his family members, but Olive was special, she was his security blanket, the person always by his side to help him regulate his emotions and guide him through uncomfortable situations. Olive took an interest in his interests and she didn’t make him feel weird for them. 

Enoch snuck a peak at the crowd, he only saw the back of jake’s head, which saved him from any painful memories of Abe, mainly, the one where Abe left and never came back.

“Let me help you with those, Enoch.” Olive said when she noticed Enoch using his chin to balance the jars. Enoch stopped, considering this for a short moment, but something about the situation made him upset. It felt as though everyone had already gotten to know Jake, while Enoch had never even seen the boy’s face. He knew this was unfair, after all, he had conflicting feelings about Jake and had _chosen_ not to help retrieve him. 

Jake snapped his head around to look at Enoch and Enoch was immediately filled with rage. Jake didn’t look as much like Abe as he had been expecting, but he did see similarities, enough similarities to give Enoch a visceral response. Enoch wanted to get to know Jake, he wanted to have the excitement of meeting a new person. Enoch hadn’t met anyone new in over 70 years. Yet, something inside of him screamed ‘run’. Enoch had to protect himself and his family from getting attached to a lost cause, no matter how intriguing that lost cause might be. 

“Don’t bother, wouldn’t want to interrupt your tea party.” Enoch retorted jealously. He hadn’t seen the others come back with Jake, and no one had told him that Jake was here. Enoch was a little hurt by this, but then again, if anyone had told him, he would have made some snide remark and refused to meet Jake, so they weren’t really to blame.

Enoch stormed up the stairs, leaving Jake confusedly staring after him and Olive chasing behind.

Enoch made his way to his room and placed his jars down on his table. Olive soon arrived behind him. 

“What was that?” She asked. “It didn’t make me feel good.” Olive knew that she had to outright state her emotions to Enoch for him to understand sometimes.

“I’m sorry.” He said, even though he wasn’t. “I didn’t mean it toward you.” That part was honest. All of the venom in his words were directed toward Jake. Enoch had never meant to hurt Olive, and he felt bad that he had, but he didn’t regret what he said.

“Why did you act like that? What’s wrong, Enoch?” Olive pushed.

“You know what’s wrong.” Enoch said, they had had this conversation last night. Enoch was worried that the kids would get too attached to Jake and be devastated when he inevitably left. He had asked her to be careful around Jake, guarded. Enoch was naive to believe Olive was capable of such protection, of distancing herself from others. “You’re getting too attached already Ol, I can see it.”

“He might want to stay. You can’t know that he’ll leave. He’s peculiar, like us! This is where he belongs!” Olive retorted. She was much farther gone than Enoch had realized. How could Olive truly believe that Jake would want to stay when he had the ability to live with people he loved, in a world full of amazement and wonder, every day something different? Why would he choose to live with people he had just met and give up all of that? 

“He’s not going to stay, not when he has a life outside of one miserable day.” Enoch looked away. He saw Jake and Emma in the garden out of the corner of his eye. His face contorted at the sight.

“There’s something more to this, isn’t there?” Olive asked, watching Enoch’s expression and following his gaze to the window. “You’re jealous.” She stated, it wasn’t a question, she was telling him. Olive was always good at picking things up about Enoch that even he hadn’t noticed.

“What do I have to be jealous of?” Enoch snapped, through gritted teeth.

“Emma.” Olive said. “Well, it’s not just Emma, it’s all of us. You’ve always been jealous that we can make friends and get along with each other.” Olive was right. Enoch had always had trouble making friends, he had trouble letting loose and not taking life extremely seriously. He lived his life in a cycle. Something or someone would scare Enoch, he would lash out, then, Enoch would become embarrassed and ashamed of lashing out, which just led to more lash-outs. 

Enoch refused to look at Olive. He just walked to the window to stare out at Jake and Emma. Olive knew she had figured it out, leaving her satisfied with herself.

“Enoch.” She said, calling his attention back to her. “why don’t you meet Jake, properly this time?” She suggested. 

“Why would I do that, Ol?” Enoch asked.

“Because, if he is going to stick around for a while, maybe it’ll be more bearable if you actually enjoy his presence? You can still prepare for his departure, Enoch, I’m not saying get attached, I’m just saying, get to know him so you can enjoy his company while he’s here. We can all play together, you, me, Jake, and the kids.”

“Fine. I’ll meet him.” Enoch had to admit, he was looking forward to the idea that he might have another person to share his interests with. Enoch didn’t have many interests, and not many people shared the ones he did have. Abe had never liked his peculiarity, he thought it was weird and it made him uncomfortable. Enoch had looked up to Abe like an older brother, yet he had to admit, they didn’t have much in common, nor did they interact much outside of family gatherings since neither of them were interested in much of the same things. Yet, still, Abe had been intelligent, handsome, and good with people, easy to get along with. Enoch had admired him, he looked up to him, and he was extremely jealous of him.

~

“Would you help me with this? Enoch usually does it, but, like I said, he’s off sulking somewhere.” Emma told Jake, holding the rope out toward him.

“And is that because of me?” Jake asked. He somehow felt guilty for what had happened in the kitchen. Jake didn’t really understand what he had done to upset Enoch, but for some reason, the kid seemed to hate him.

“He’s…possessive.” Emma responded. Jake didn’t know how to feel about this response. It didn’t give him much of an answer, though he assumed that it meant Enoch had a thing for Olive, so he decided he would try to steer clear of her as much as possible and only interact with Olive when she interacted with him first. He would try to stick by Emma, she seemed to enjoy his company anyway, and he enjoyed hers. She was easy to get along with and had a warmth about her that made him comfortable. Something about her was very familiar, which made him feel at ease. Jake supposed he felt that way since he had grown up hearing stories about her. 

~

When Jake was done helping Emma, he was walking through the halls of the upper level of the house, exploring a bit, to see where his grandfather had lived.

“Jake! Come and meet Enoch properly.” Olive called, looking excited in a doorway. She slowly disappeared into a room and Jake decided to follow. 

The room was filled with jars of small animal organs decorating massive shelves that covered the majority of the space. Enoch was sitting at a table, fidgeting with a heart and a creepy doll that looked like it was straight out of toy story. He moved his fingers and arms like he was creating a masterpiece.

“Well you must feel pretty out of place.” Enoch said, his eyes not leaving what he was working on. Something inside Enoch told him to keep pushing Jake away, even when he was trying to meet him. Something deep within his heart told him not to get too close, to keep his distance; and if actively pushing Jake away was the only thing that could appease that feeling, then that was exactly what Enoch was going to do. 

“Don’t worry, I’m used to it.” Jake responded.

“Oh, no, I wasn’t worried.” Enoch retorted. “Some advice for you though. Man to man. If you’re thinking of staying just because you like Emma, don’t bother. You see, she swore off romance decades ago, when she got her heart broken, and she’s never gonna change her mind.” Enoch said. Something about the idea of Jake sticking around to hurt everyone, just because of a crush on Emma, bothered him to his core. The level of selfishness that someone would have to have to destroy an entire family just because of a childish crush, was insane. Enoch justified his actions in that moment as protecting Jake from a crush that would inevitably hurt him, but he knew, even if he wouldn’t admit it to himself, that he fully blamed Jake for any pain that was to come. 

“Enoch, I wasn’t trying to-“ Jake trailed off as he noticed Enoch placing a heart inside one of his creepy dolls. Jake wanted to defend himself, wanted to explain that he had no nefarious plot, but he got distracted by the disturbing scene unfolding in front of him. “What are you doing?” That question seemed to take precedent in his mind. Olive smiled excitedly from behind Enoch. Clearly, she had to be seeing something different from what Jake was seeing.

Enoch stretched over the table to place something inside a second creepy doll’s head. Seconds later, the dolls started to move.

“Isn’t he amazing?” Olive fawned. Yep, she had to be seeing something different from Jake.

“What did you do?” Jake asked, extremely unsettled, which was evident in his voice. Hearing Jake’s discomfort, hurt Enoch a little. He supposed he shouldn’t have been expecting anything other than disgust, as that’s the reaction most of the children had toward his peculiarity; but he had to admit he was disappointed. 

Jake’s reaction gave Enoch just another reminder to distance himself from the boy, to try to stay unattached, and if that meant actively hating him and pushing him away, so be it. Enoch had been trying to leave his mind open to the possibility that he and Jake could be friends, that if Jake took an interest in Enoch and Enoch’s interests, Enoch could accept Jake as a friend, as a part of his families lives, but Jake’s reaction sent that tiny space in Enoch’s mind crumbling into a million pieces. 

“This? Jake, this isn’t even the fun part.” Enoch was trying to scare Jake away at this point. He was feeling vulnerable and wanted to make Jake leave, but he also wanted to make him hurt a little. Enoch wanted to make Jake hurt for the hurt he felt right then. Jake, inadvertently, without realizing it, was rejecting Enoch’s attempt at friendship. 

Enoch hated feeling ashamed for his peculiarity, he personally really liked it, but he placed other’s opinions of himself in a high spot in his mind, leaving Enoch extremely vulnerable to judgement. Enoch reminded himself that Jake was new to this world, to peculiarities. “Do you want to see the fun part?” He asked. This was half of a genuine question. Enoch was still giving Jake a little bit of time to adjust. Hoping that if he gave the boy enough time, Jake would actually appreciate his abilities, maybe even enjoy his peculiarity. Maybe if he got to see them fight, Jake would come around to the idea and enjoy himself? Enoch had never been to the future, he didn’t know that Jake was accustomed to much more entertaining entertainment and he had almost forgotten that the radio used to be something enjoyable before he memorized all of the words to every available station. 

Enoch stared at the dolls for a moment, willing them to fight one another. Olive clapped her hands excitedly. She loved watching his creations duel, it made Enoch feel accepted and appreciated by at least someone. 

“They’re like poppets.” Enoch said when the fight was won. He had gotten too enveloped in the battle that he forgot to keep his barriers up for a moment. “Just…do anything I tell them.” He watched as the champion of the fight nudged the dead one, to make sure it was sufficiently dead. Enoch immediately put his barriers back up the second he noticed they were gone. “It’s even more fun with people. You should’ve seen some of the epic battles I used to have, at my parents funeral parlor.” Jake looked uncomfortable, it was clear he didn’t know how to react. Enoch purposefully scared people sometimes. When Enoch was afraid of being hurt by someone, he would often try to scare them, because if he was the scariest thing in the room, no one would be able to hurt him. If people were too afraid of him to get close, they wouldn’t be able to hurt him, intentionally or not. Enoch immediately felt embarrassed by the silence Jake was giving him. Part of him wanted to scare Jake, but the other part desperately wanted to be accepted. Olive looked between the two, noticing Enoch’s Eyes dart to the table to avoid seeing Jake’s face.

“Jake! Why don’t you find Emma? She’ll help you find clothes for dinner.” Olive interjected, rescuing her brother.

“Oh-I-uh…Okay.” Jake turned to walk out but paused in the doorway. “It was nice to meet you, Enoch.” Jake had almost forgotten his manners. Those dolls were very creepy, and the thought of humans ripping each other’s limbs off, made him extremely uncomfortable. Jake wasn’t trying to be rude to Enoch, he hoped he would get on the guy’s good side, He thought he may have just screwed that up, however.

“Yeah, whatever.” Enoch said. Yep, Jake screwed this one up big time. At least Emma wasn’t protective of Enoch. Emma seemed to know what Enoch was like, so Jake felt good that she wouldn’t judge him for getting on Enoch’s bad side. He did, however, feel like he let Olive down slightly. He could tell how much she wanted them both to get along.

Once Jake left, Olive turned to Enoch. “It’s okay Enoch, I’m sure he’ll come around to your peculiarity. He probably just didn’t know what to say. He’s new to this whole thing.” 

“Yeah, cause I don’t have a pretty power like Emma or Fiona. I’m not helpful like you and Horace. I’m weird like the twins and Hugh.” Enoch shot back.

“Enoch that’s mean! Hugh and the twins aren’t weird! And neither are you!” Olive scolded.

“I make people uncomfortable and you know it. I’m unsettling.” Enoch said.

“They just don’t understand you.” Olive retorted.

“They don’t give me a chance.” Enoch said.

“ _You_ don’t _give_ them a chance!” Olive shot back. This caused Enoch to get upset and stand up with a huff. He knew she was right, but he didn’t want to admit it, not even to himself. It was much easier to blame other people for the problems he created for himself. Enoch started making for the door to leave. “Why won’t you tell people how you feel?” Olive’s question stopped him.

“Because they laugh.” Enoch said after a long pause.

“That was one time, Enoch, and you Know Abe didn’t mean it like that.” Olive was tired of Enoch’s excuses. Every time she would ask him that question, he would give a different answer, none of them ever seemed to be the truth. Maybe Enoch thought it was the truth in that moment, but she didn’t see how something so small that happened one time could stick with him for that long, dictating how he interacts with everyone.

“I opened up to someone one time, and I was laughed at. He said it was ridiculous.” Enoch said bitterly. The truth was that Enoch never really knew why he was feeling the ways he was feeling, people always wanted to know why something bothered him, but he really didn’t know. So when he would tell people the reason that was the easiest, the most logical in that moment to him, to appease them and make them stop asking, later on, after the fact, he would realize it wasn’t the true reason and he had been wrong; so Enoch decided to never talk about his feelings, that way, he could never be wrong about them, that way, he would never tell people something that wasn’t the truth. 

“He meant that your reasoning was ridiculous. He didn’t handle it well, I’ll admit that, but he wasn’t laughing at _you_ , he was laughing at your reasoning because, to him, it was illogical. I know it still didn’t feel good, and he should have never laughed, but at some point, you need to let that go.” Olive explained. Enoch huffed at this and stormed out. He wasn’t very upset with Olive, only slightly irritated. He was done with the conversation, there was no more he could add and there was no more that he would hear from her, so he decided to leave before she frustrated him to the point of actual anger. Olive knew when a good time to follow Enoch was, and this was not one of those times. She understood he wanted to be alone, and she hoped that leaving him to think about her words on his own, might make him more susceptible to internalizing them.

“Don’t forget to clean up before dinner!” She called after him.

~

Dinner started. Emma and Jake walked into the room later than everyone else. Emma sat next to Bronwyn and Jake tried to sit on Millard, not realizing he was there. 

“Hey! What are you doing?” Millard shrieked. Jake jumped out of Millard’s lap, startled.

“Millard. Go and put some clothes on.” Miss Peregrine scolded. “Polite persons do not take their supper in the nude.” She chirped. Millard scoffed. Jake stood there looking around at everyone seeming very lost. Good, Enoch thought, if he felt as though he didn’t belong here, he would leave.

“Alright.” Millard whined, getting out of the chair and stomping toward his room. The rest of the children giggled around the table. Enoch found the whole situation amusing. He liked seeing Jake embarrassed, it served him right for embarrassing Enoch when he rejected him earlier. 

Jake stood at the table awkwardly for a moment before starting to sit by Emma again. 

“You can sit… here… Jake…” Olive offered, so he wasn’t stealing Millard’s seat. However, she trailed off when Jake looked at her with a scared expression.

Enoch glared at Jake. He didn’t like the fact that the kid had just arrived and was already cozying up to Emma. He would never admit it, but he did wish to know Jake better, like the rest of his housemates seemed to. He wanted to have a new friend, someone who was new and exciting, someone who would share his interests and tell him all about the new technology of the world. He wanted someone to spend hours a day with. Someone who could keep him company when Olive couldn’t. Someone who could keep him from going to the dark places in his mind he didn’t want to explore, the places that only came out when Enoch was alone and too weak to stop them. Enoch enjoyed being alone, but there were times when being left alone wasn’t in his best interests. There were times when being alone put Enoch at risk for travelling to uncomfortable places. There were times when he needed company, and Olive wasn’t always around to be there for him, after all, she had her own household duties to attend to.

“Look at Enoch. He’s jealous.” Horace teased.

“Why would I be Jealous?” Enoch said, leaning forward and glaring at Horace, trying to intimidate him enough to get the boy to shut up. “Olive can go marry Jake for all I care.” He shot. Olive was too comfortable with Jake, and he had to admit, he was scared of losing her to the boy. He was scared that Olive would start acting like Emma had with Abe, completely attached to Jake to the point where she hardly interacted with the others when Jake wasn’t around. He couldn’t lose his safety net, his only friend. Enoch considered everyone in the house his family, but Olive was the only person he could also call a friend. 

Jake was extremely uncomfortable by the glares constantly being shot at him, however, he eased a little when Enoch made the comment about Olive. He felt like he understood a little. Enoch was jealous that Olive had taken an interest in Jake. Jake was positive that Enoch and Olive were an item, or at least, Enoch wanted them to be an item. He figured that if he just stuck to Emma, the one he was actually interested in, Enoch might leave him alone. However, he then remembered Enoch’s comment about Emma, maybe he wouldn’t leave him alone? Was Enoch possessive of all of the kids? He didn’t seem to have a problem when Jake interacted with the younger kids.

“Don’t be mean, Enoch. She doesn’t want to. She’s just excited to have a visitor.” Fiona stated. She was right, and Enoch knew it, but it didn’t stop his fear of being left by the only person who accepted him for who he was. Enoch was afraid that Jake would be more interesting than him and steal his family away.

“Nobody is marrying anybody.” Miss Peregrine chimed in. “Now eat up your food before it gets cold.” Everyone started eating on Peregrine’s command. Hugh accidentally let out his bees and was forced to put his net on. Clair was uncomfortable eating in front of Jake, but with his encouragement, she gleefully chowed down. Enoch was a bit upset by this. Jake was fine with her peculiarity, but Enoch’s creeped Jake out. Enoch, however, was ignoring the current look of discomfort on Jake’s face. It was always hard for him to look at things objectively, to not let his feelings take control of how he perceived the world and others. His insecurities dictated his world view, clouding his judgement, and he tended to project onto others.

“So, Jake, what’s your peculiarity?” Horace asked. 

“Oh, I-I’m not…peculiar.” Jake answered. Just another reason that he _didn’t_ belong there.

“And that, my friends, is why he will not be staying with us, no matter how hard we try to persuade him.” Enoch said, trying to remind everyone to slow down and not get too attached. Enoch was frustrated with his family for consistently ignoring his concerns.

Jake looked down, away from Enoch. He felt bad about probably bringing old memories back for a lot of them, just to leave like his grandfather had.

“We’ve talked about this. Jake is just visiting.” Miss Peregrine cleared up.

“He might want to stay?” Hugh spoke up. “Don’t you want to stay, Jake?”

“Tonight…or…” Jake asked slowly, being cut off by Claire.

“Forever! You should stay forever!” The little girl said excitedly. This was exactly what Enoch was worried about.

“Why would he if he doesn’t have to?” Enoch spoke up, being a little harsher than he needed to be. “He can live out there, grow older, have a good time instead.” Enoch didn’t enjoy being trapped in the loop, not as much as some. The others seemed to be used to it, but Enoch felt like he wasn’t living. Nothing ever happened. He was stuck doing the same activities every day. While Enoch enjoyed a certain level of consistency in his life, and hated a large amount of change, living the same day, over and over again, with the same people, all day, every day, was too much consistency, even for him. He didn’t understand why someone would choose this life if they didn’t have to. “He’ll leave, just like his grandfather did.” There was venom in Enoch’s words.

Emma stormed out of the room. She hated when Enoch brought the subject of Abe up. She hated the idea that Jake was like Abe, yet that’s all she wanted him to be. Emma simultaneously wanted Jake to be his grandfather, her first love, but she didn’t want the pain that came with that. Enoch knew that he screwed up by mentioning Abe’s name, but he was never good at correcting mistakes after he made them. Genuinely apologizing to people was a difficult task for him, and he hardly did it, it left him vulnerable, showed people he had feelings, he had remorse. Olive was the only person Enoch regularly apologized to, and even that was infrequent. 

“Emma!” Miss Peregrine called after the girl.

“Excuse me.” Millard said as he passed Emma. “Where’s she going?” He asked.

“That wasn’t nice Enoch.” Miss Peregrine scolded, she was harsher than normal. A tone she almost exclusively saved for Enoch. He didn’t seem understand her any other way, yet, the harsher she was, the worse Enoch acted. “You know perfectly well why Abe left us.” Enoch looked down, embarrassed for being scolded in front of everyone. He played it off as annoyance, but it was obvious he was embarrassed.

“To join the army.” Hugh spoke up, pointing a finger to add to Miss Peregrine’s scolding.

“And then he met a nice lady, and had a nice wedding cake, and a _lovely_ little baby.” Bronwyn interjected.

“Children.” Miss Peregrine cut everyone off. “I know you’d all like a new friend. But I’m sure Jake has plenty of his own back in Florida.” She looked over at Jake. Enoch hated that she was agreeing with him while simultaneously undermining him. It’s what parents did he supposed.

The phone rang and interrupted dinner, as it always did.

“I think, you should all get ready for movie time, while I answer that.” Miss Peregrine told the kids. 

“But you always let us stay for it.” Claire complained. Miss Peregrine didn’t say a word, she just walked slowly into the other room. 

~

They all settled in for movie time. Jake and Emma sat next to each other on the couch, While Olive, Enoch, Bronwyn, and Claire all settled onto the couch opposite of them; with the others on the floor, save for Horace, who was in his signature chair. Millard brought Jake a cup of hot chocolate, only to be scolded by Emma for not wearing pajamas. 

Horace projected his dream onto the wall. Enoch watched as Jake and Emma whispered about something. He wasn’t watching the movie, he was too focused on watching Emma and Jake. He hadn’t noticed but he was glaring. Horace started dreaming of Jake’s arrival. And that snapped Enoch out of his glaring session. He turned his attention back to the dream, watching the events of earlier that day unfold.

Suddenly the dream shifted to a dramatic scene involving an ymbryne. Enoch noticed the kids chattering with concern. Just as suddenly as the dream had arrived, a new one took its place. This time, it focused on Emma and Jake. All of the children looked over toward the two sitting on the couch. Emma and Jake intently watched the screen. Jake leaned forward on the couch in anticipation, as the dream versions leaned closer together for a kiss. Enoch glared at the scene, he was jealous, not of jake, but of Emma. He didn’t understand why, he didn’t even fully understand _what_ feelings were boiling inside of him, he just felt angry. Emma looked down from discomfort and Miss Peregrine shut the projector off.

“I should probably get going.” Jake stated, starting to get up.

“You could stay the night…If you wanted to, rather than walk home in the dark.” Miss Peregrine offered. Enoch could tell Miss Peregrine had alternative motives. There was something Miss Peregrine was hiding from them.

Emma retorted Miss Peregrine’s offer by saying the island was safe. She clearly didn’t want Jake staying the night. Miss Peregrine suggested that Emma show Jake the way home because of…Potholes. Enoch could tell something was off with Miss Peregrine, but he didn’t quite pick up on the fact that it was fear. Alma was terrified, but hiding it well to everyone but Emma and Horace. 

“Will you at least stay for the reset, Jake? It’s really quite spectacular.” Olive asked. Enoch threw his head back on the couch and let out an exasperated sigh. He was getting sick of all this excitement around Jake, perhaps it was because he was starting to feel it too now, and that made him uncomfortable. He didn’t want to like Jake, he didn’t want to know Jake, he wanted Jake gone and out of his life forever, as he was already going to leave anyway. 

~

They all made their way outside to watch the reset. There was a victrola covered by an umbrella to protect it from the rain that Miss Peregrine started playing music on. Miss Peregrine liked to do things with flare. Once they were all in an orderly pattern, they put their gasmasks on. What looked like red lightning started flashing in the sky, and Jake could hear airplanes approaching. They quickly passed overhead. Lines of bombers right after the other. One of the planes finally dropped a bomb. Jake watched as it fell toward the house. Right before the bomb hit, Miss Peregrine stopped her pocket watch. Everything froze but the children and Miss Peregrine. The rain and the bomb all stopped, the airplanes frozen in air. Miss Peregrine started dialing back her pocket watch, and everything started in reverse. Soon the night turned to day, the day turned back into night, and everything was normal again. Miss Peregrine was the first to take her mask off, the rest followed in suit. They all filed back into the house, leaving the victrola behind.

Once they were inside, Jake changed back into his regular clothes and left with Emma. Making his way back to his time, his family, his life.

~

Jake came back again. Enoch saw him walk up the driveway. Olive convinced Enoch that they should greet him, so they went down the stairs. Enoch only followed Olive because he didn’t want her alone with Jake, he didn’t want her to fawn all over him like Emma did. Before they reached the doorway, Enoch stopped Olive. He heard Jake and Miss Peregrine speaking of the ymbryne and of Abe’s death. Enoch pretended to hate Abe, he was mad at him after all. Enoch never got over the betrayal of Abe leaving. Enoch and Abe fought a lot, but Enoch had always looked up to Abe, it hurt hearing about his death, and he was curious about what had happened. 

Enoch overheard Jake describing Abe’s death. Hearing that Abe was attacked by a hollowgast brought up feelings of victor. Enoch protected himself from those memories by shutting his feelings off and pretending to be desensitized by death. Enoch _had_ been desensitized to death, but not to the deaths of those he loved. Just as Enoch had never gotten over Abe’s departure, he had also never gotten over Victors death. His death was traumatizing and terrifying. Victors death had forced Enoch to grapple with the reality of what death meant. Death wasn’t a permanent state to Enoch, as someone who could raise the dead, death never felt permanent to him, however, after losing Victor, Enoch had tried to necromance him many times, but, he never came back, not in any substantial way. Victor had been just like the inanimate objects Enoch brought to life, he had been an empty vessel for Enoch to order around, there was no real person inside of him anymore. Victor’s entire situation made Enoch feel helpless, a feeling he had trouble handling.

Jake walked into Enoch and Olive in the doorway after Miss Peregrine left him with no more information than that of which he come with. Enoch wasn’t expecting Jake to see them, and it sent a shot of anxiety through his body from being spotted snooping. He was terrified that Jake would be able to see through him, that Jake could see that he was vulnerable, emotional. Jake had startled Enoch out of intense emotional thought, something that no lucky person would ever do. Enoch quickly gathered his composure and lashed out. 

“Oh, how frustrating for you. Between Miss Peregrine’s rules and my housemate’s little pact not to scare you off, it’s like, no one’s telling you anything.” Enoch teased slightly. Jake looked frustrated and determined. He stepped forward, a little too close to Enoch for Enoch’s comfort. Jake was attractive and it made Enoch uncomfortable.

“Well why don’t _you_ then. It’s not like _you_ want me here.” Jake said. Enoch looked down avoiding the eye contact Jake was determined to make with him. A small part of him wanted Jake to stay; what Enoch didn’t want, was for Jake to leave, but since he knew it was inevitable, he wanted it over with faster, before he cared. He felt slightly bad that Jake thought Enoch wanted him to leave, however, he wasn’t entirely wrong. 

“Enoch, you can’t. You promised.” Olive said, seeing him consider the offer. 

Enoch looked back up at Jake, into his eyes after feeling Jake watching him intently, if Jake wanted a staring contest, he would get one. Enoch didn’t want to seem intimidated, so he glared at Jake. “Olive’s right.” Enoch said, creating a plan in his mind to scare him away for good. He was getting too attached to this kid already. “I do know someone who can get away with breaking rules though.” Enoch said. “Want to meet him?” He asked. Enoch was using Victor as a way to prove to himself and those around him that his death didn’t faze him. Enoch was almost doubling down, trying to prove how little he cared about Victor, or anyone else for that matter, to cover up how much everything affected him. For someone who pretended like nothing fazed him, inside, Enoch felt like everything affected him more than they should, more then they affected other people.

Jake nodded and Enoch turned around, leading him up the stairs. Olive knew where he was going, and she tried desperately to stop him.

“Enoch! Don’t do this!” She pleaded. “Please!” It was too late, Enoch had made up his mind. He wanted Jake gone. He hated the way he felt when Jake looked into his eyes, he hated the anxiety that washed through him and made him want to vomit. Enoch hated the vulnerable place Jake being here put him in. He hated the affect Jake had on him, the emotions Enoch had to hide. Jake had to go.

“You want to spend time with me and Jake, “we can all play together” That’s what _you_ said, remember?” Enoch responded as he stormed toward Victor’s room. Olive stood in front of Victor’s door and put her arms out to stop Enoch from going inside. “Well, here we all are. _Move,_ Olive.” Enoch warned.

“If you’re going to be like that, then I don’t want to be your friend.” Olive stated before storming off. This hurt Enoch a lot. She hit his insecure spot exactly. He was going to lash out, and Jake was about to feel the brunt of it.

“Enoch!” Fiona stormed up to him. “Leave victor alone! It really upsets Bronwyn.” Enoch leaned down and put his hands on Fiona’s shoulders.

“Stop fussing Fiona. Don’t you think Jake should meet everybody?” He asked. Fiona looked up at Jake.

“He’s trying to frighten you away, Jake. He was always jealous of Abe, and now he’s jealous of you! Come and play with us, instead.” Fiona tried. Jake looked between Enoch and Fiona. He knew Enoch was up to something, but if it gave him any answers as to who killed his grandfather, he had to follow the necromancer. 

Jake considered what it would be like to get along with Enoch, maybe if he followed him, they could become friends? Enoch didn’t seem like a bad person to Jake, he seemed to really care about people, he just seemed to have an issue with Jake, specifically. He desperately wanted to get on Enoch’s good side. There was something about the boy that intrigued him, maybe it was his dark curls, or maybe the stare that could turn him to stone; of course not literally, Jake had heard that the twins could _actually_ turn people to stone, Medusa style, this was more of an emotional freeze that Enoch could lock Jake in. 

“I-I’d quite like to meat Victor.” Jake said to Fiona, earning a smug smile from Enoch that was directed at Fiona. Enoch reached out and patted Fiona’s head condescendingly before opening the door and motioning for Jake to go inside.

“After you.” Enoch said. Jake walked in the room toward the bed.

“Uh…hello, Victor.” Jake said as Enoch messed around in a dresser-drawer. “I-I’m Jake, I’m sorry to disturb-“ Jake stopped when he realized victor wasn’t alive. He was starting to get scared of what Enoch had in mind for him. The sight of Victor’s eyeless sockets brought back flashes of his grandfather in his mind. 

“Yeah, he can’t hear you.” Enoch said. He knelt down next to victor with a heart in his hand. He unbuttoned Victor’s shirt delicately, slowly sliding the heart inside Victor’s chest. Enoch leaned back when he had finished, watching Jake intently. Jake was on edge, and it was evident, Enoch knew his plan would work. He focused on Victor, on the heart inside his chest, and soon enough, the heart started pumping, and Victor’s chest started moving up and down. Enoch made Victor sit up abruptly. His head wobbled on top of his body, as if his body was animate but his head was a ragdoll. Victor looked up at Jake, eye sockets empty. “Hello, Jake. I’m Victor.” Enoch supplied in a funny voice, as Victor’s mouth moved up and down like a sock-puppet. “Do you want to know what killed me?” Jake was visibly uncomfortable, the sight of Victor’s eyeless sockets brought back flashes of his grandfather, laying in the woods, eyeless, trying to warn Jake of something. His mind raced, it felt busy, and Jake couldn’t get control of his own thoughts. 

Jake ran off, needing to get away. Enoch let Victor lay back down. Jake was in fight or flight now. He decided that was it. He wasn’t going to try and interact with Enoch again. He didn’t care if Enoch hated him, he could live with that, everyone else seemed to like Jake.

Enoch had an internal struggle happening inside of his head, he was happy that his plan had worked and he had scared Jake off, yet, he felt guilty and sad that Jake was leaving. Enoch was ashamed that he messed with Victor, Bronwyn really did hate it. But, the plan worked, which made it worth it…he hoped. Enoch hoped his guilt would disappear soon when everyone went back to normal. He hoped that there wouldn’t be a permanent rift between him and Olive or him and Bronwyn, even. 

Jake rushed down the stairs to find the entire inhabitants of the house by the door. “Oh, there you are! Is Enoch with you? It’s time for our daily walk.” Miss Peregrine stated. Jake just shook his head. “Would you mind fetching him?” She asked. Jake did mind, but he didn’t want to tell her what had happened, for some reason, he didn’t want to get Enoch in trouble, he just thought that would make things worse. He sucked it up and walked back up the stairs. 

When he reached Victors room, Enoch was putting the heart back in the dresser. Jake cleared his throat.

“Uh…Miss Peregrine wants you to take a walk.” Jake said shyly, stuttering a little. Enoch turned around in disbelief. Jake _wasn’t_ gone!?

“Why are you still here?” Enoch asked sincerely, there was a small amount of bitterness in his voice, but it was overshadowed by genuine curiosity.

“Uh…I-“ Jake just left it at that and walked away. He decided to stick by Emma for the walk, far behind Enoch. He didn’t want his back turned from Enoch at that moment. 

Jake had been getting used to the others peculiarities. He thought he would be able to get used to Enoch’s, if he was around it more, but he had vowed not to try, not after Enoch tried to scare him like that. It crossed a line, a line only put in place because of Abe’s death.

~

After the walk, after Emma had showed Jake her shipwrecked hideout, after Miss Peregrine had explained about the Hollowgasts and Barron, Olive called Miss Peregrine into the other room, the Ymbryne Emma had found was awake.

Jake followed Miss Peregrine and Emma into the next room where all of the kids were listening to Miss Avocet explain her escape. Jake stood next to Enoch. He was slightly uncomfortable, but he had calmed down and was no longer as upset as he had been. Enoch was desensitized by death because of his powers, maybe Jake was overreacting, maybe Enoch wasn’t trying to cross that line? He knew in his heart that wasn’t true, Enoch wanted him gone for reasons Jake didn’t understand. He wished Enoch would just tell him why he hated him, instead of making Jake guess.

“The experiment. They intend to do it again.” Miss Avocet explained. 

“This time he’s using more ymbrynes.” Enoch spoke up from next to Jake. Jake looked over at him. He felt surprisingly comfortable around Enoch when Enoch wasn’t focusing all of his hatred on Jake. When Enoch was distracted with other things, he was surprisingly easy to be around. Jake couldn’t feel the waves of anger wafting off of him anymore. “He still wants to be immortal.” Enoch continued.

“Do Hollows only attack peculiars?” Jake asked.

“Of course not. They’re monsters, Jake. They’ll slaughter anything in their path.” Miss Peregrine informed. 

“Well, some sheep on the island were killed.” Jake said. “You don’t think they’re here already, do you?” He asked. Jake was worried about his father, he was worried about his new friends.

“Have you seen anyone with white eyes?” Miss Avocet asked. All of the children turned their attention to Jake. Jake shook his head.

“I’m sorry children. We can’t remain here.” Miss Peregrine said. 

Jake and Enoch were now shoulder to shoulder, neither had realized but Enoch had been leaning closer to Jake the entire conversation. He was stressed and longed for the comfort of another human being. He had subconsciously been trying to obtain the comfort that Jake brought, just by being a body near him.

Enoch wanted some change in his life, but not this much. He hated when things were out of his control, and moving houses, moving loops would be too big of a change, nothing would be in his control. 

“What!?” Enoch protested.

“We’ll leave off the first ferry off the island tomorrow.” Miss Peregrine stated. “Pack anything of importance. Then it’s sandwiches and early to bed.”

“Are we leaving for good?” Hugh asked.

“When are we coming back?” Fiona asked.

“Never. If Miss Peregrine’s not here to reset the loop tomorrow night, the house gets bombed.” Enoch responded.

Jake watched the scene feeling out of place. He didn’t know how to help. Everyone was in so much distress, he didn’t know what he should be doing, what he _could_ be doing. 

~

“Once this loop closes, that’s it. I can’t get back to my own time.” Jake told Emma as she frantically packed her bags around him.

“Well you didn’t seem very happy there.” Emma said. She could see the signs. She was about to lose him just as she had lost Abe. She was trying to bargain with him. Jake would leave her, and she would never be able to correct the mistakes of her past. Emma would always be living in regret.

“I can’t just leave! I have a family.” Jake retorted. Jake had a life, he had a family, and if there were monsters out there, if he was truly the only one able to see them, he had to be with his family to protect them. Jake had always felt ordinary, he never felt like he fit in, like he never belonged anywhere. Jake wasn’t special, not like the others here, at least he didn’t feel that way.

“And you felt ordinary, like nothing you do changes anything, and-now you have the chance to do something that changes everything! Jake, We’re in danger.” Emma shot back. She was pleading at this point “And- you’re the only one who can see the hollows.” Emma felt defeated. She felt helpless to save her own family. She couldn’t do much, but the one thing she knew she could do, convince Jake to stay, she was failing at. 

“Yeah, I see them, sure! But- I’m not my grandpa!” Jake said. “I’m not-and I can’t fight…I can’t _kill_ somebody.” Jake knew he was able to see the monsters, he knew that they needed him, and it _killed_ him to have to walk away, but he didn’t know how to fight, not even in self-defense, especially against giant tentacle monsters with razor sharp teeth and spears for hands and feet. Jake would only put them in more danger, he wasn’t used to their world, he barely knew anything about his powers, about their powers, about what the Hollows were capable of. 

Jake couldn’t leave his family without some sort of explanation. He couldn’t abandon his parents when they were so worried about him. Emma walked across the room, turning her back to Jake. The mere mention of Abe hurt her. She knew he wasn’t Abe, but deep down, she hoped he was, she wanted him to be. “There’s only one reason that I’d stay here.” Jake said. 

“Please…just go?” Emma pleaded. She couldn’t do a long goodbye. She couldn’t wish Jake to be someone he wasn’t. Emma couldn’t say goodbye again. 

~

Enoch wasn’t surprised when he saw Jake leave. He had been packing his clothes and necessary jars into a bag when, through his window, he spotted Jake leaving. It had been what Enoch was expecting since the boy arrived, yet, something inside of him hoped that Jake would stay, hoped that Jake would help them fight. Enoch didn’t want to be left alone to protect his family. The more people capable of fighting, the better, especially expendable people like Jake.

Enoch heard the doorbell ring after a few hours of venting to Olive as she finished her own packing. Enoch had been struggling with the idea of leaving his home behind and Olive knew he would be a difficult person to deal with during the massive life change. Enoch would be even more on edge than he usually was. Something as destabilizing as this was going to be difficult for all of them, but Olive knew they would all make it through.

Enoch made his way to the stairs with many of the other kids to see who it was, part of him was hoping it was Jake. Enoch wanted Jake to protect his family from the Hollows. He wanted Jake to be their warning system before someone else lost their life. There was a small part of Enoch that wanted the visitor to be Jake because of his own abandonment issues. Enoch wanted Jake to come back, to prove Enoch wrong, to prove the part of his brain that told him he wasn’t worth loving, the part that told him he was worth leaving, wrong. When Miss Peregrine opened the door, Enoch saw Barron holding a bladed hand up to Jake’s neck. This was bad, the expendable had become Barron’s ticket inside.

What hurt the most to Enoch was that Jake had come back, but he hadn’t come back of his own accord. Jake didn’t want to come back, he was forced back. Enoch told himself he hoped Barron would just get it over with and kill Jake already, but he didn’t actually want that. Enoch really wanted Jake, and everyone else, to be okay. Enoch wanted everyone to survive this. He just wanted this all to be over and his life to go back to normal. 

“Children! Would you make your way down the stairs please?” Mr. Barron asked. The children started to step forward but were stopped by Miss Peregrine.

”I give the orders in this house Mr. Barron.” Miss Peregrine retorted.

“Not today.” Barron shot back. “You should know that Jake has served his purpose.” Barron said, looking at the boy trapped in his arms. “If you value his life, I suggest that everyone does as their told.” Barron stared at Miss Peregrine for a moment before shouting for the children once more. 

Miss Peregrine promptly cut him off with a “Shush!” and a pointed finger. Barron looked confused. “No one tells my children what to do.” She said sternly. “Children?” Alma asked in a soft voice. “Come down here, please.”

Enoch hesitantly followed the others down the stairs. Miss Peregrine watched the children slowly make their way to the entrance room. “Children…for Jake’s safety, we’re going to do what Mr. Barron asks.” She said. “He wishes to take me with him to his rendezvous in Blackpool. So for his protection, he’d like me to assume bird form, preferably caged, and he’d like you to make your way into a lockable room such as the parlor.” The fear in Miss Peregrines voice was evident. “As he won’t release Jake if he fears an attack will be mounted upon him once he loses his leverage.” She looked at Barron. “Correct Mr. Barron?” She asked rhetorically. Barron stuttered.

Enoch stepped forward. “You’re sacrificing yourself and all of us…for Jake?” Enoch was hurt by this. Why was Jake more important than every single one of them? More important than him? 

“Because Mr. Barron travels with a Hollow, Enoch.” Miss Peregrine looked at Enoch pointedly. “Once it arrives here, we’re all dead.” She stated, hoping Enoch would get the hint. He didn’t. Enoch didn’t pick up on hints well and Horace knew that. Luckily, Horace explained it in Enoch’s ear.

“Enoch. Only Jake can see them. She means he’s our only hope.” Horace reminded. Enoch reluctantly complied. He walked to the back of the group to make sure every one of the children made it into the parlor. He stopped when he got to Miss Peregrine to put his hand on her hand. It was his way of saying goodbye. He hadn’t established a touching routine with any of his siblings aside from Claire, which meant, he felt awkward touching them in any meaningful way, as it wasn’t an established thing that he and any of them did, so he would only do it during important moments such as this. Enoch never hugged anyone but Claire in that house, the most he could muster was a hand on Miss Peregrine’s hand for a split second.

Enoch made his way into the room with the rest of the kids, waiting for Emma to finish hugging Alma. Enoch had to admit he was slightly jealous of the way Emma could hug people at will, she didn’t need a significant moment or immense pain to feel comfortable showing physical affection. Enoch wanted to hold Olive’s hand, he wanted the comfort of knowing his sister was by his side, but he didn’t know how to initiate it. What if she rejected his hand?

Miss Peregrine shut them in the parlor with Miss Avocet. Not long after, Jake was shoved inside by Barron who slowly shut the door behind him after giving them all a menacing wave and smile. 

Jake immediately made his way next to Enoch and Emma. He trusted them both to be the most competent in this situation. 

“It’s getting dark, you won’t even be able to see their shadows.” Jake said. “We have to stay inside, it’s the only place we stand a chance.” 

“He’s quite right. Now, where does Miss Peregrine keep her weapon?” Miss Avocet asked.

Enoch looked between Emma and Jake.

“In the…” He pointed to the room behind him. Enoch’s mind was racing with anxiety, forcing him to struggle to find words. 

Jake and Emma followed Enoch into the conservatory while Miss Avocet instructed the younger kids and Olive to barricade the house. Enoch led Jake and Emma to the gardening tools. Giving Jake a hoe and Emma a pitchfork, however, the phone rang, tearing their attention away from the task at hand. Emma sent Jake to answer it. 

“Why are you doing that to him?” Enoch asked. He didn’t understand how talking to Abe might help Jake find closure. 

“Because, he needs to talk to Abe one last time. It could help him. I’m not being mean.” Emma was being slightly selfish as-well, she hoped that Jake would warn Abe of what was to come, and maybe Abe would survive? Emma looked at the expression on Enoch’s face. “I’m not! I’m trying to help. He might gain some closure. Not everyone shuts down completely when they’re faced with difficult emotions, Enoch.” Enoch scoffed and continued gathering tools for the other children. 

When Jake was done with the phone call, he found Miss Peregrine’s crossbow conveniently resting against a wall. “I’ve got the crossbow, let’s get back to the parlor.” Jake informed Enoch and Emma when he walked back into the conservatory.

Emma and Enoch followed Jake into the parlor, closing and locking the door behind them. Bronwyn then barricaded it with a couch. 

Jake threw the crossbow to Miss Avocet once everything was set in place. “Now children! Now that you are all here, there’s a few rules. Your primary job is to stay safe. Leave the Hollow to me. I don’t want to see any heroics. Now, those of you with garden tools, I must insist that you-“ Miss Avocet was quickly pulled out of the room through the door by the Hollowgast. Jake ran forward and grabbed the crossbow. He stayed low to the ground, ducking under a table. 

The Hollow was standing in the doorway eating Miss Avocet’s eyes. Enoch looked around, but he couldn’t see anything. It was unnerving. If there was anything more out of his control than a monster he couldn’t see, Enoch surely hadn’t heard of it. The Hollowgast made its way inside, standing to reveal its massive size to Jake. Something about the hollowgasts reminded Jake of Slenderman, but now was not the time to be thinking about that. 

Jake scuttled back as Enoch pushed Jake behind him to face the monster himself. Enoch had thought Jake was expendable, so why now, when they were faced with life or death, was he placing Jake’s life above his own? Enoch justified it in his head that Jake was the only one who could protect his family, but that explanation didn’t feel right. Enoch couldn’t bring himself to consider that maybe Jake meant more to him than he realized, more than he let on, more than he let himself believe. 

“No! Enoch, get back!” Jake yelled, reaching his arm out to grab Enoch’s wrist. Enoch looked back at Jake for a split second and was taken by surprise when the Hollowgast grabbed him by the waist with one if its tentacles, lifting him up into the air and shoving him against the walls, windows, and mirror, anything the Hollow could reach to disable Enoch from fighting back. Enoch tried to fight the Hollowgast, but without being able to see it, he didn’t know where to hit. He tried just thrashing around, but the Hollowgast had too good of a grip on him. Enoch felt helpless. He could move, but none of his movements made any difference. He could hit, but there was nothing to hit. Enoch thought he was about to die, the same way Victor had gone, the same way Abe had gone. Enoch was doomed to be just another Hollowgast meal. Enoch wondered if this was how Victor had felt right before he had died, helpless, alone, scared. He knew Abe would have had a different experience, as he could actually see the monsters, giving him a fighting chance. 

Jake pointed the crossbow at the Hollowgast, but he couldn’t get a clear enough view to not hit Enoch. Jake had never fired a crossbow before, and he knew Enoch would never forgive him if he accidentally hit Enoch and Enoch survived.

“Go! Get to the attic!” Jake told the others. Emma led the group away. Bronwyn broke the door open, allowing the group a path out of the parlor. 

The Hollowgast finally held Enoch still, trying to take his eyes. This gave Jake the opportunity of a clear shot at the Hollowgast. Jake shot the Hollowgast in the shoulder, and Enoch fell to the floor. 

Olive and Jake rushed over to help Enoch up before the Hollowgast could regain his stance. “Go! GO! Get out! Get out!” Jake yelled at Enoch and Olive. “Olive! Come on!” Jake encouraged Olive to go faster. Enoch grabbed Olive’s arm and drug her up the stairs. Jake quickly followed behind them. They all made their way to the attic when Jake heard the planes in the distance. 

“Oh crap! It’s almost reset!” He said, opening the window. “Fiona.” Jake said when he noticed a tree. “Is there anything you can do with that tree?” He asked.

“Yes.” Fiona responded quickly.

“Be careful.” Jake told her. Fiona climbed out the window to stretch the tree branch over toward the house. “We’re going through the windows. Come on! Let’s go!” Jake instructed. “Quickly!”

Emma dropped out of the window after Jake. Jake caught her from falling off the roof due to her metal shoes. Enoch slipped out another window, holding his arm out for Claire to climb into. Once everyone was on the roof, they all started making their way to Fiona’s tree branch.

As the group made their way to the tree, the Hollowgast broke through the window. Jake and Emma turned to face the monster, Jake pointed his crossbow at the Hollow while Emma noticed the bomber flying overhead. Emma quickly unbuckled her shoes as Jake shot at the hollow. She threw the shoes off the building and grabbed Jake. They floated to the ground as the bomb hit the building, killing the Hollow. They watched as the loop closed, time trying to adjust itself around them.

~

Jake and Emma made their way to the beach to meet up with the others. They figured out that Barron had taken Miss Peregrine to Blackpool by boat. He and Emma showed the others Emma’s shipwrecked boat, giving them a way to find Miss Peregrine before it was too late. 

Jake and Emma searched Abe’s map for the nearest loop. They found Miss Avocet’s loop in 2016 in Blackpool, England.

“With Miss Avocet gone, it can’t be reset.” Jake said, pointing to the spot on the map. “Won’t the loop close?” He asked genuinely.

“Then it’s back to real time.” Emma thought out loud. “Jake! You know what this means don’t you?” She said excitedly.

“You’re gonna die.” Jake said, sadness in his voice. 

“That’s not what I mean. _We_ have to get to our own time, but _you_ don’t. You can continue to live in 2016.”

“But…Why would I do that?” Jake asked.

“If we kill Barron, he’ll be gone, but time will carry on. He won’t go to Florida. Abe won’t die! And you can go home.” Emma needed Abe to be alive. She still loved him, no matter how much time had passed, living the same day with the same people, it offered no room for closure, no room for a healthy goodbye. Everything had felt the same as the day he left for so many years, she never had a chance to get over him, to move on.

“I can see my grandpa.” Jake realized. “Listen. I can explain, everything to them. I can persuade them to take me to the island-wait…will you-will you still be there?” Jake asked. 

“Our old loop’s gone…for good. We wouldn’t see each other again.” Emma responded.

“I thought you wanted me to stay?” Jake asked.

“I know you’ll choose Abe.” Emma answered. She knew she would choose Abe, always. “If I minded, I wouldn’t have told you.” She said. Emma was clearly upset, but did truly understand. She wished he wouldn’t leave, she wished she could have a second chance, a chance to do love right, but she understood why he couldn’t and she knew she would do the same thing in his situation.

Jake moved toward her, just like in Horace’s dream, closing the distance between them. They stood there for a moment, close together, silent. Enoch burst the door open, startling the two out of the moment they had been sharing.

“So. Have you found Miss Avocet’s loop on the map yet?” Enoch asked. He was very oblivious to what was happening, and very blunt with his tone. 

“It’s here, but it’s new. She made it early this year.” Jake said, bringing the map over to Enoch. “That’s my year. If we don’t get out before it closes, we’re stuck in January 2016.”

“Great! So…time catches up with all of us, we all die, except _you_. Plan?” Enoch snarked. He was using humor as a defense. Enoch was terrified, but he had to keep himself together as much as possible. To keep anyone from seeing how scared he was, Enoch tried to use aggressive humor to disguise his fear and vulnerability. 

“The loop closes at 4:30.” Jake said. “That means we need to get in, rescue the ymbrynes, and then get out.” 

“Yeah, if we’re not already dead.” Enoch said. “Miss Avocet said that the machine is in the cellar of the Blackpool tower building. That means we’ll be indoors, with hollows.”

“No. We won’t. I’ve got a plan.” Jake retorted. “But I’m gonna need your help.” He looked at Enoch. Enoch looked back at him questioningly. “Follow me.” Jake said.

Enoch followed Jake outside of the room away from the kids where Jake stopped him. Jake had a plan, but he needed to make sure it would work before letting the others in on it. He didn’t want to give them hope just to tear it away.

“I need you to gather as many things as you can find, necromance them to life, we need expendable fighters.” Jake said. Enoch smiled devilishly. Jake finally wanted Enoch to use his powers. Jake watched Enoch’s smile intently, it was like he couldn’t turn away. Jake hadn’t seen Enoch smile before; it was something he wished to see every day.

“You want an army?” Enoch asked.

“Yeah, basically.” Jake said. A different smile popped up on Enoch’s face, this one was mischievous. 

“And you’re saying…you’re not expendable?” Enoch joked. It was the first _real_ joke he felt comfortable cracking around Jake. It was the first joke that wasn’t laced with malice or bitterness, it wasn’t a mask he was using to hide behind. Jake had saved his life, and now he was asking for Enoch’s help, Enoch felt included, he felt important, like he was an asset. 

Jake laughed a little. This made Enoch feel even better about himself, some people didn’t understand his humor and would get offended. Emma used to be offended until she got to know him better. “I don’t consider myself expendable and I’d appreciate if you didn’t, too.” Jake said, still smiling, but he figured he should clarify just to be careful. 

Jake liked getting along with Enoch. Talking to the boy felt easy when he wasn’t glaring daggers in Jake’s direction. “Do you think you can make an army in the time we have?” Jake asked genuinely. 

“Yes.” Enoch didn’t have a lot of words when he wasn’t being mean. Enoch used words as a defense, a way to push others away or hide his true feelings, when he didn’t need to use them as protection, Enoch didn’t have much to say. Jake smiled at him and held out his hand for a handshake. Enoch stared at him for a minute not knowing what he wanted and completely taken off guard by the action. 

“What are you doing?” Enoch asked.

“Handshake?” Jake responded, confused by Enoch’s confusion. Enoch still looked like a deer in headlights, even after the clarification. He shook his head slightly with his eyes wide, not saying a word.

“You’re not ready for that yet. Got it! We’ll work on it.” Jake said. Enoch let out a sigh of relief when Jake left. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to touch Jake, he really did for reasons he didn’t want to explore, however, just like with everyone else, they hadn’t established touching yet. Enoch had no idea how to react, so he just froze from fear, and then stayed frozen from the embarrassment of being frozen over a handshake. 

Jake realized he had screwed up the second he had said those words. He should never have said “we’ll work on it” to Enoch. Jake knew that he was going to leave, he knew that he shouldn’t lead Enoch on, acting like he was going to stay; he knew it wouldn’t end well for him. Jake wanted to hurt the peculiars as little as possible in his goodbye, and Enoch had been distancing himself because of that inevitable. Jake understood from the amount of distancing that Enoch did from him, that Enoch was especially susceptible to grief, and should not be messed around with when it came to feelings.

~

Enoch found a room filled with skeletons. This would do nicely. He got to work stuffing them with hearts and supplying them with weapons. 

Jake, Emma, and Millard all left the boat to scout out and start Jake’s plan once they docked. Emma and Jake led the Hollowgasts back to the loop entrance where the peculiars were waiting.

“Enoch! Now!” Jake called after Enoch who was waiting outside the entrance for his cue. One by one, skeletons filed out of the ship. Jake ran to the other side of the entrance again, informing the kids to start throwing snowballs.

Olive lifted the lid to a container of cotton candy and Emma blew it on the Hollowgasts as the children switched to throwing confetti. The Hollows were sufficiently visible now. 

“Don’t just stand there! Get them!” One of Barron’s lackeys called after the Hollowgasts. Enoch’s army of skeletons, making perfect time, burst through the loop, chasing after the Hollowgasts with their weapons raised in an extremely animated manner. 

Enoch stepped further out into the fairgrounds as Jake trotted up to him. Jake looked amazed, which filled Enoch with pride; however, he did have to keep his focus to guide any of the skeletons that needed to make a specific action, so he suppressed the feelings making their way to the forefront of his mind and focused on the battle. Currently, the skeletons were on auto-pilot, they knew that they were supposed to fight, however, if Enoch saw an opportunity to kill a Hollow, he would need to direct a skeleton to do the specific action that was needed.

As Enoch’s creations started getting torn through, consistently losing, Bronwyn noticed the carousel. She climbed on board and broke one of the unicorns, stretching it back until it was lined up with the Hollowgast. She let go and the unicorn went flying, skewering the Hollowgast and sending it into the ocean. 

The kids regrouped once all of the Hollowgasts were down. “Alright. Good job guys. It’s time for step two.” Jake told everyone. 

“Save Miss Peregrine!” Bronwyn introjected.

“That’s… sort of step three. First we have to deal with Barron.” Jake stated. 

~

They all snuck into a circus tent. Emma interrupted Barron to blow him into a knife target, while Jake tried to hit Barron with an arrow from his crossbow, making the peculiars presence known. Being the terrible shot he was, Jake missed. There was a part of him that wondered if he only missed because he didn’t want to kill Barron. Jake wasn’t a killer, even if Barron was a murderer that would kill any and all of them if he wanted to. Jake worried that he wouldn’t be able to do this, he wouldn’t be able to kill Barron and everyone he had just learned to love would be eaten by Hollowgasts. Jake worried that when it came down to it, he would be responsible for their deaths. Jake could talk the talk, he could strategize and come up with the plans, lead the team, but when it came to dealing the final blow, could he do it? 

Barron’s lackeys jumped into action, leading Hugh to send his swarm of bees after them, incapacitating one for a short while, while the other grabbed knives and leaped onto a platform, throwing the knives at the children. Emma and Jake darted behind chairs to hide from the onslaught. 

Barron started in on an evil speech as the kids hid from the flying knives. Enoch, seeing an opportunity, lunged at Barron, swinging a bowling pin at his head. Barron dodged, hitting Enoch in the face, knocking him unconscious immediately. Enoch had never been good with physical violence, he had always been better at cutting people with words; besides, those were the wounds that lasted anyway. 

“I am a higher being. I hold the secret to eternal life.” Barron continues after laughing at Enoch’s attempt. Olive snuck behind Barron, touching his shoulder with her ungloved hand. 

“Sorry to interrupt.” She said as Barron’s jacket caught flame. Barron struggled to take the jacket off, but once it was off, he waved it in Olive’s face, causing her to back up and stumble to the ground. Jake got his crossbow ready again while Barron was distracted with Olive. Jake noticed Bronwyn picking up a chair. He shot another arrow at Barron, missing again, this time on purpose. Jake was just the distraction. He was trying to keep Barron’s attention away from Bronwyn so that she could knock him unconscious with her chair.

“Ha! Missed me again. I take it accuracy is not your peculiarity.” Barron joked before getting hit in the face with Bronwyn’s chair. Barron fell down for a moment, but he managed to pull himself up almost as quickly as he went down. Jake couldn’t understand how Enoch could be incapacitated by one punch when Barron was hit in the face with a heavy, metal chair, thrown by _Bronwyn_. Perhaps he _was_ a higher being, or perhaps Enoch was just more fragile than he looked?

“Abe was a much worthier adversary.” Barron chuckled at Jake. That may have cut Jake deeper if he had known about Abe’s exploits for a longer amount of time; but this version of his grandfather that he had only just discovered was still too new to him, he felt detached from that person, he really didn’t know that version of Abe. Why would Jake look up to a person he had never met? He knew that with time, and hopefully if he could rescue his grandfather, with interactions, he would grow to know and love that version of Abe, he would grow to look up to him as everyone in Miss Peregrine’s home seemed to, but for now, he felt nothing for that person. Jake only felt love, admiration, and remorse for the grandfather he had known. Yes, Jake knew about some of his exploits, but not in much detail when the stories got dark, when it came to the fighting. Abe would tell Jake about the monsters, he would tell him about his explorations, but he didn’t tell Jake about the battles or the murders. 

“Don’t let him get to the birds!” Jake called to Horace, who stepped in front of Barron to project his thoughts in Barron’s eyes.

Barron simply walked past Horace, making a comment about his tailor. Horace looked terrified and ashamed that his powers had done nothing to stop Barron; but Horace shouldn’t feel bad, Enoch, Jake, Olive, and Bronwyn had all failed to stop Barron just as humiliatingly. Jake followed after Barron with the crossbow.

The former Hollow in the pool jumped out and grabbed Bronwyn. He pulled her under the pool, freezing the top of it. “Cold? Wait till the blood freezes in your veins.” He said creepily.

“Hey!” Fiona shouted at the man. He turned around to face the girl when Fiona threw a hand full of seeds on him.

“That was your attempt to rescue your friend was it?” Suddenly, the seeds started sprouting vines, crawling up the man’s legs, tangling around him, trapping him in a tight cocoon.

Olive stood up, noticing Bronwyn in the pool. She took her glove off and placed her hand on the ice, hoping to melt it. The man behind her, froze the cocoon of vines encasing his body, breaking out and placing an icy hand on Olive’s shoulder, trying to freeze her. She placed her hand on his in an attempt to thwart his efforts, but it extinguished, starting to freeze, itself. She dropped to her knees. Her body was getting colder and couldn’t maintain the energy it took to stay standing.

Enoch woke up to see Olive being frozen to death. He jumped to his feet, running over to the broken-down elephant ride that had been laying on the floor. Enoch knew that if he tried to intervene himself, both he and Olive would be dead. He pulled a large heart out of his pocket and placed it in the elephant. Enoch had been hoping to puppet a Hollow, but hadn’t gotten the chance. The elephant’s eyes opened, and it turned its head toward the former Hollow. The elephant slowly got to its feet, keeping its eye on the hollow as it did. The metal elephant jumped on top of the man, crushing him beneath its weight. 

Bronwyn broke out of the icy pool while the twins and Claire petrified the second former Hollow that had been tormenting the three. Enoch ran to Olive the second everyone was dealt with and safe.

“Olive. Olive!” He said, kneeling by her side, gently shaking her shoulder. “I’m so sorry Olive. All these years I never appreciated you. I didn’t see how lucky I was. I got so used to having you there, I never realized.” He leaned down and hugged her. Enoch had never thought that he could lose Olive. He never realized that someday, she may not be there for him. He hadn’t realized how lucky he had been to have someone there with him, someone who took the time to get to know him, someone who put up with him when he was being difficult. 

“You never realized what?” Olive asked, starting to defrost. Enoch stared at her for a moment in shock. When she moved, he gave a relieved smile. Olive smiled back. “Really. You never realized what?” She asked again. 

“I never realized I could lose you. I never realized how much you do for me.” Enoch responded after a moment of speechlessness. “I’m so glad you’re back. I love you.” He said, hugging her once more.

“I love you too.” Olive said as she started getting feeling back in her arms. She noted to herself that this was not only the first time Enoch had Hugged her, well, the second time if you count the one that just happened when she was unconscious, but also the first time he had told her that he loved her.

Enoch knew that this changed everything, he knew that after this moment, he would be able to seek physical comfort from Olive. Enoch knew that this established a pattern for them, it wouldn’t for everyone, Enoch would probably need more than just one hug to establish a pattern with others, but in his head, this moment changed everything for him and Olive. Enoch could hug her now, which meant she wouldn’t mind if he held her hand or slung an arm over her shoulders. 

Enoch noticed that Emma and Jake were gone, which meant they were alone with Barron, they would need help. “I have to go help Emma and Jake, take the others back to the ship.” Enoch told Olive when he let go of her. He ran off to find the two.

~

Enoch ran down an alleyway running into Emma. “Enoch! Where are the others?” She asked, hurriedly.

“Their safe. Olive is leading them back to the ghost ship.” Enoch informed her.

“Jake needs us, Barron’s too strong.” Emma said, as she led him down a street.

“Jake?” Emma called out. They heard nothing, so Enoch tried.

“Jake?” Enoch called. Still nothing.

“Jake?” Emma tried one more time as they turned the corner to the room Barron had been keeping Miss Peregrine in. She pushed the door open. Enoch and Emma were face to face with two Jake’s. 

“Emma!” Jake said surprised, walking toward her. “No- wait, look! That’s not me! It’s Barron.” Jake 1 said.

“Don’t listen to him! He’s Barron!” Jake 2 said. 

“No! I’m Jake! That’s Barron!” Jake 1 repeated.

Enoch grabbed the crossbow that Jake had rested against the wall, when Jake had first entered the room, and pointed it at them both. He didn’t want either of them coming close enough to hurt him or Emma. Enoch had warmed up to Jake at this point, but he was still more expendable than Emma. Emma was Enoch’s sister, Jake was just some cute guy who had shown up a few days ago to rescue them out of a terrible situation. 

“Well I’ve got a better shot than Jake, so neither of you move until we sort this.” Enoch wasn’t entirely being truthful. He had never shot the crossbow before, but it wasn’t hard to guess that _anyone_ would be a better shot with it than Jake was.

“Listen. I’m Jake. I grew up in Florida and I wanted to be an explorer. I thought nothing would ever change because I was ordinary.” Jake 2 said.

“That’s Jake! Get Barron!” Emma said to Enoch, pointing at Jake 1.

“No! Wait! Look, I told him all of this! She was my psychiatrist.” Jake 1 said, motioning to Jake 2. Emma and Enoch looked at each other confused.

“Look, you deal with him, I’ll go find Miss Peregrine.” Jake 2 said, earning a crossbow to the face. Enoch wasn’t messing around. He wasn’t letting either of them near Miss Peregrine until he was absolutely sure which one was Jake, there was no room for error in Enoch’s mind.

Jake 1 looked at the corner of the room. “Wait.” He said. Enoch let his guard down slightly at this, lowering the crossbow just slightly. “Look, I can prove that I’m me.” Jake 1 kept looking at the corner, his gaze moving toward Jake 2. “Because I’m not ordinary. I can do something no one else can.” He said looking at Enoch, who was still holding the crossbow. Jake 2 looked behind himself as Jake 1 stared over his shoulder. “I can see the monsters.” Jake 1 said after a long stalling pause. 

Jake 2 was lifted into the air by an invisible creature. “No wait it’s me!” Barron shouted as he shifted back. Enoch let down the crossbow, watching the whole ordeal. The Hollowgast stole Barron’s eyes in the most disturbing way that sent flashes of memories of not only Victor, but the Hollow at the house the night prior. Enoch felt like he was back in that place, he was being held still by the Hollow, about to be eaten. He was also back with Victor, watching his brother’s lifeless body being carried into the house.

The Hollowgast turned his attention to the three kids when he was done with Barron’s eyes. “Enoch!” Jake shouted. Enoch threw the crossbow to Jake, snapping out of his thoughts long enough to help, but not really sure why he trusted Jake with the thing.

Jake caught the crossbow and shot the Hollow in the neck before it could grab ahold of him. Jake smiled as the Hollow hit the ground dead. He looked over at Emma and Enoch, both were smiling back. Jake had actually done it. He had managed to kill the Hollow, and now they were all safe.

Jake hadn’t seen Enoch with a genuine, non-mischievous, smile yet; he decided to store it in his memories, seeing as he wouldn’t get another chance to see it again. Jake’s face immediately fell, followed by Emma’s when the reminder that he had to leave rang through their minds. 

“We need to go. The loop is closing.” Emma told Enoch.

“Yeah.” Enoch turned to leave, expecting Emma to follow him.

“Those of us who are leaving.” Emma said. She sounded slightly bitter. She turned around and followed Enoch up the stairs, leaving Jake behind for a moment, until Jake remembered he could still see them off. Jake jogged after them, catching up within a few moments. 

~

Jake walked them all back to the loop. The twins gave Jake a hug goodbye. Claire and Bronwyn looked up at him sadly, but walked into the haunted house regardless. Hugh, Fiona, and Horace gave sullen head nods to Jake as they walked past. Millard gave him a hug, quickly followed by Olive. Enoch almost walked right past him, and Jake thought for a moment that that was exactly what he was going to do. That Enoch was going to ignore Jake’s existence, but then Enoch stopped and held out his hand for a handshake, surprising Jake completely. Jake shook Enoch’s hand; it meant a lot to them both, seeing as Enoch hadn’t been the most keen on the idea earlier that day.

When Enoch turned to leave, Olive held her hand out for him to take; he took it gladly, happy to have the comfort. Enoch had been rehearsing the handshake in his mind for the entire walk back, he was glad it went well, but he could still feel the anxiety that had built up in his body over thinking about the simple act. 

Jake noticed Enoch take Olive’s hand. He assumed this meant that they were officially a couple now. Maybe Enoch had confessed his feelings? There was a small pit in Jake’s stomach, but he didn’t know why, he didn’t want to explore it, after all, he would never see them again, so he ignored it, brushing it off as the grief of leaving. 

Emma was the last to say goodbye. “Emma.” He said, as she walked up to him.

“You love your grandfather.” Emma said. “There’s nothing more to explain.” 

“No. I promised Miss Peregrine I’d look after you all.” Jake stated. “And with her injured, and you without a loop-“ Emma cut him off.

“She’ll recover, and until then, we’ll be in 1943.” Emma assured. “We’ll only age one day at a time…like normal people. Which can be no bad thing.”

“And what about the Hollows?” Jake was looking for a reason to stay. He wanted to go, but he wanted to stay, his heart was torn in two separate directions. He knew he wasn’t needed in his time, so if he could reason that the peculiars needed him, he would stay. “As long as they’re out there, you’re not safe.” 

“We don’t need you to make us feel safe, Jake…” Emma said with a smile. “Because… you made us feel brave, and that’s even better.” She leaned forward and hugged him. It felt eerily similar to her goodbye with Abe. She didn’t want to let go, but she knew she had to, she knew he was better off in his own time with his own family. 

Emma stepped away, walking inside the loop. Jake sat down on the steps to the haunted house. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. Mon 11 Jan 4:30pm. He watched as the loop closed around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have issues with my eyes (that visual therapy didn't fix and glasses can't fix) so if anyone wants to beta this, go through and fix all the missing prepositions and the words that are spelled wrong and stuff, I would very much appreciate it, because I can literally read a sentence 5 times and miss the same typo every single time!


	2. Eternal Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enoch grapples with the idea that Jake is Permanent. Jake and Enoch become friends, and eventually, something more.  
> This story is emotionally driven, so now that I am not rewriting an already established storyline, the plot may be weak.  
> This chapter is still a deep-dive into Enoch's emotions and internal struggles, but we also gain more insight into Emma, Jake, and Olive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have tried submitting this chapter so many times already that I am starting to get frustrated.  
> For some reason, when I paste the story in, the paragraph spacing becomes inconsistent. No matter what I tried, I couldn't get the paragraphs to consistently have the proper spacing at the beginnings. 
> 
> Again, this chapter is NOT canon complient! This chapter breaks lore multiple times, I'm sure of it. Please don't take this chapter too seriously!

Emma had been staring out over the bow of the ship when she heard footsteps run up to her. She saw Jake behind her, panting as if he had just run a marathon. 

“You have no idea how long it took me to get here.” He said to her. “The closest loop was in the California desert. I used it to get to the Tokyo loop. And that led me to the closest loop, back in 1942, where I wound up joining the Navy… Don’t ask. Then I spent two months in London, trying to-” Jake said, but was cut off by Emma kissing him. Jake wasn’t expecting her to do that right then. It wasn’t an unwelcome kiss, he had just been expecting to finish his sentence.

The kiss was gentle and sweet. Emma was soft but assertive. Jake wasn’t really sure where to put his hands, he felt extremely awkward, like he didn’t know what he was doing, he worried he was disappointing her.

“Wow.” He said when they parted.

Emma looked up at him with her sweet smile. “Wow.” She repeated. 

“How long was I away?” Jake asked her. His mind coming back to reality rather quickly, he chalked it up to the sea air blowing the smell of salt in his face. Jake could see Miss Peregrine flying above them watching him and Emma. 

“Only a couple of minutes.” Emma said. 

“Does that mean Enoch won’t kill me?” Jake asked, not entirely sure why that was his first thought when he had just finished kissing Enoch’s sister.

“You did just kiss me. I wouldn’t rule that out, Jake.” Emma joked. Jake understood that it was a joke to her, but he felt that there was some truth to it. 

Miss Peregrine landed on the deck, transforming back to her human form. “Welcome back Jake.” She said with a smug smile, like she had known he would return the entire time. 

“Thanks, Miss Peregrine.” Jake responded. Her little smiles did not go unnoticed by him. “Should I go see the others, or should they not be distracted while they drive the boat?” Jake turned to Emma again.

“Wait until we’re straightened out, then go see them. Enoch’s driving.” Emma said, which worried Jake that he was going to be strangled or something when he said hello to Enoch, yet, weirdly, he was still excited to see him. Aside from Emma, Enoch may have been the person Jake was most anxious to see again. “Aside from me, Enoch is the only one strong enough to turn the rusty wheel while also being tall enough to see out.” Emma explained. Emma loved Olive, she truly did, but she couldn’t pretend that Olive had any upper body strength. There wasn’t much exercise Olive could do safely when one slip of her glove could set wherever she was on fire.

Emma looked at Jake for a long moment, something happening to her face. It was clear she was struggling to ask a question that she didn’t know how to phrase. “How’s Abe?” She finally settled on, but Jake knew she was holding something else back.

“He’s really good. He was glad I got to meet you. He was the one who encouraged me to come find you guys. He gave me money for my travels.” Jake explained. For reasons Jake was still confused about, Abe had been very surprised when Jake told him about his relationship with Emma. Perhaps it was weird having your grandson fall in love with the same woman you fell in love with 70 years ago? Jake wondered.

The boat was now on a straight path and Emma nudged Jake playfully with her arm. “Go see them.” She encouraged. A huge smile crossed Jakes face. It may have only been a few minutes for the peculiars, but for Jake, it had been almost a year.

Jake walked to the wheelhouse with Emma trailing behind him excitedly. He opened the door slowly. No one looked back at first, until Olive spotted him and made a squeak of excitement which led to all the kids whipping their heads around. Bronwyn ran up to Jake immediately, squeezing him around the legs lightly. The twins followed behind her, giving Jake a hug around the back of his legs. Claire was so shocked she had her mouth hanging open, which made Jake wonder if her second mouth was also open. Hugh, thankfully, managed to keep his bees in order.

Jake looked to Enoch. They made brief eye-contact before Enoch looked away and stormed out, having to squeeze past Emma, Jake, and the pile of children accumulating on Jakes legs, to get through the door. Olive chased after Enoch. “I’m so glad you’re back, Jake. Sorry.” She said as she passed Jake.

Jake looked at Emma confused. “Is Enoch okay? Did I do something wrong?” He asked her. Emma looked more surprised than Jake expected her to look. 

“I honestly don’t know.” She responded. 

“Enoch doesn’t like strong emotions. It’s why he disappeared earlier before we needed him to steer the ship. He doesn’t like to showcase his emotions around others, it makes him feel vulnerable.” Horace spoke up.

Jake felt a little better, it didn’t absolve him of the fear that Enoch was going to murder him at some point, but he at least felt like it wasn’t his fault and it was just an Enoch problem. “How do you know so much about Enoch?” Jake asked Horace. “You always seem to be spot on.”

“I’m an observer. I observe people and things. You pick up a thing or two when you live with someone for over 70 years. Besides, my dreams are prophetic, I get insight into some of you, that you may wish to keep hidden.” Horace explained. 

“So…I guess Olive isn’t the only Enoch whisperer around here then.” Jake joked. No one seemed to get it, they all looked at him puzzled. “Never mind.” He dismissed.

“How did you make it back?” Millard spoke up from somewhere on Jakes side. 

“Millard?” Jake asked.

“Yes?” Millard answered.

“Are you not wearing any clothes?” Jake questioned. Jake always had to assume that Millard was naked when he couldn’t find the boy.

“I’ll go put some on.” Millard responded, and Jake watched as the door swung open and shut again. Emma was trying very hard to keep a straight face.

“It’s not funny, Emma.” Jake said, but even he was chuckling a bit. 

“No, you’re right. You were being hugged by an invisible naked boy, it’s not funny at all.” She replied, earning a small chirp of laughter from Miss Peregrine who had been silent for quite some time, so silent in fact, that Jake had forgotten she was there.

“How _did_ you make it back?” Hugh asked, repeating Millard’s question. 

Jake told them all about his journey while Emma took charge of steering the ghost ship. Miss Peregrine would be able to eventually, if they hadn’t found a home by the time she healed, but with her current injury, she wasn’t able to use her arm too much.

~

It had been about 15 minutes by the time Jake ended his story. He was getting concerned that he hadn’t seen Olive or Enoch back. He excused himself to go look for them. Jake knew that he should leave them alone, but he really wanted to see Enoch and Olive, after all, he hadn’t seen them in a year.

Jake found his way to the cabins, most of the doors were shut, except three, Jake made his way past one, no one was inside. He made his way toward the second one, but stopped when he heard noises. He must have found Enoch’s room. 

“He’s here for good now. Does that mean you’ll finally stop pushing him away?” Jake heard Olive’s voice. He knew he shouldn’t be snooping, but it was about him after all, didn’t he have a right to know? No, the answer was no, and Jake knew that, but he didn’t have the strength to walk away yet.

“We’ll see.” He heard Enoch’s voice. “He’s still trying to cozy up to Emma.” Emma really wasn’t wrong, Enoch was possessive. Jake had originally thought it was just an Olive thing, but he had soon realized Enoch was possessive of all of the kids. “The young ones adore him like he’s some kind of god.” Enoch exaggerated.

“Oh please. You know that’s an exaggeration.” Olive chided. “You like him too. You can deny it all you want, but you like him. I know you’ve been wanting a new friend for a while, and I know you had your hopes up about him.” Olive stated. 

“I will never admit such a thing.” Enoch’s accent was very evident in that moment.

“Come on. Admit it! You like him! And you missed him just like the rest of us.” Olive pried.

“It was only 10 minutes Ol.” Enoch retorted. To be truthful, Enoch hadn’t really missed Jake. It had only been 10 minutes and it hadn’t started to feel real before Jake returned. Enoch had been disappointed however, disappointed and betrayed. Enoch knew he shouldn’t feel betrayed, he had known from the start that Jake wasn’t going to stay under any circumstances, but that didn’t stop the abandonment issues from popping up. It popped up in all of them. When you’re trapped in a one-day cycle with the same people every day, you start to get fearful of the thought of losing even one of your only life companions. 

“Please just admit it? You like him, just like the rest of us.” Olive said.

Enoch sighed, defeated. “More than you know.” He whispered. It was so quiet that Jake almost didn’t hear it. Jake knew he needed to leave, but he decided to sneak one quick peak at the two before he left, mainly out of curiosity of what Enoch’s new room looked like. Was it already covered in jars of organs? Were there skeletons instead of creepy dolls he’s resurrecting now? Jake hoped Enoch would stick to skeletons for a while. Dolls had always freaked him out, especially when animate and wielding weapons. 

When Jake peaked inside, he saw Olive and Enoch hugging. He hadn’t heard any shifting, so he assumed they must have been like that the whole time. Enoch had his head rested on Olive’s shoulder and Olive’s on his. Olive was rubbing circles into Enoch’s back with gloved fingers. 

Olive was happy that Enoch was finally able to hug her. She could feel him relaxing under her arms, and she wondered how much easier calming him would have been in the past if they had established hugging as an activity they did. 

Jake knew he needed to leave then, he couldn’t be spotted by Enoch. If he was, he would probably be dead. Jake quickly but silently walked back to the others.

~

It was time for their nightly movie. They were all settled into the dining area. Horace had found a nice chair to settle himself into. Jake saw Enoch and Olive sneaking into the room to join everyone. Jake smiled at Enoch. “Enoch! Come sit by me.” He said. He was now determined to become Enoch’s friend. Enoch already liked him, how hard could it be?

Enoch looked at Jake confused for a moment, but he walked over cautiously, sitting down between Jake and Emma. “Oh-I meant-“ Emma shot Jake a warning look to stop talking. “Okay.” He said. Jake had meant on the other side of him, but he supposed this was the best he would get for now. 

“Olive.” Emma called. Patting the seat next to her. Olive shook her head slightly, glancing at Enoch. She didn’t trust his emotional state right now. She sat by Enoch’s feet, that way he could reach down and grab her shoulder if he needed her.

Horace placed his monocle in his eye and Miss Peregrine started the projection. At first, the dream was about him finding a new tailor. Lightly running his hands up and down a blue suit examining its quality. 

It shifted into a scene at a pub. Why was Horace dreaming of a pub? The dream started out with a heavy focus on a man’s grey, wool sweater. It looked rough but warm. The wearer of the sweater was getting up and walking across the pub with a beer in his hand. They couldn’t see the man’s face. Wool sweater met green polyester-cotton blend, a futuristic combination that Horace had only seen on Jake. He had been following the news when polyester was invented in 1941, however, he hadn’t ever seen it combined with another fabric until he met Jake, as it was still an extremely new product in his time. 

“Ay! Watch it!” A thick Scottish accent that belonged to Enoch rang out from Horace’s dream. The focus shifted out finally, revealing a man in a grey sweater next to Jake and Enoch. The man had bumped into Jake and Enoch was giving the man a death glare.

It was clear to the group that this was a prophetic dream. The man in the dream was blitheringly drunk. “You mean like this?” The man put his hand on Jakes’ shoulder and pushed him slightly, it wasn’t rough, but the man was clearly trying to rile Enoch.

“That doesn’t even make sense.” Jake said, looking confused as Enoch seethed next to him. “Let’s go, I think Olive found it.” Jake said calmly looking over Enoch’s head somewhere. 

“You don’t touch him.” Enoch said. 

“Are you growling?” Jake asked Enoch, quietly. The dream ended there, shifting back into the dream about the tailor shop. 

Enoch sat on the couch uncomfortably. His face was completely red. Jake thought it was sweet that Enoch was possessive of him now. He was finally being accepted into the family. Emma looked over to Jake confused by his wide grin. 

~

The next morning Jake was in his new cabin, laying on his bed. The words “more than you know” swimming around in his head. For some reason they wouldn’t leave him alone, at first they brought him comfort, but now he was just unnerved that his brain wouldn’t stop replaying them, over and over again. Why couldn’t he get those words out of his head?

A knock came at his door. “Breakfast everyone!” Miss Peregrine chirped. Breakfast? They had food on the ship? Jake wondered. He climbed out of bed and got dressed, making his way to Emma in the hallway.

“Where should we go?” He asked, looking in both directions and not seeing Miss Peregrine.

“She’s on the deck.” Emma told him. Jake followed her up the stairs to the deck noticing that Enoch and Olive were filed behind them. He gave Enoch a quick smile when he looked back. He was trying to be as friendly as possible, but it was clearly confusing Enoch because Enoch put a hand on Jake’s shoulder and pulled on him a little to signal for Jake to turn around. Jake complied.

“Why do you keep doing that?” Enoch asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

“Do what?” Jake asked confused.

“Smile at me!” Enoch responded exasperated like it should have been obvious, like Enoch’s question wasn’t incredibly vague. 

“Because I like you? I-I enjoy your company-I mean!” Jake stumbled. Enoch looked at him suspiciously for a moment. Jake didn’t know how to respond, so he just turned around and started walking again. Jake was pleased to hear Enoch still following him. He was slightly worried he was too forward with Enoch. Enoch didn’t seem to make friends easily or fast. 

Olive reached forward and slipped her hand in Enoch’s for a moment and squeezed gently, showing her excitement. Enoch smiled to himself a little bit at Olive’s excitement. He was glad that she was happy that he and Jake were getting along. Enoch was almost gladder for himself however. 

“Children. As you probably know, we don’t have food.” Miss Peregrine spoke once all of the children were on the deck. Jake noticed that they were docked somewhere. “As it is my duty to keep you all fed, Olive, Enoch, Jake, Claire, Fiona, and Horace, you will all be coming with me as we search for food at a supermarket. Emma will stay with the rest of the children and guard the ship. We will be gone for a few hours at most.” Miss Peregrine said. “Those of you who are staying behind, please make requests for anything you would like us to pick up that you will need for the rest of our journey. Clothing, food, toys.” Miss Peregrine looked at the twins on her last word. “Anything you will need, we will try to find. We leave in 20 minutes.” She finished.

Jake immediately went up to Emma. “Is there anything you want?” He asked. “Only a change of clothes.” She requested. 

“I’ll tell Horace.” Jake responded.

“No! I mean, yes, thank you. But please accompany him, I don’t want anything over the top. We are living in a ghost ship after all.” Emma explained. Jake thought about it for a moment and decided it would be best to accompany Horace when it came to everyone’s clothing. Clair was the only one who didn’t mind being dressed up in the fancy clothes Horace put her in.

~

Enoch walked next to Olive down the exit ramp, Jake in front of them ushering the kids between Miss Peregrine. Jake was thinking about the kiss Emma gave before they left, he was lucky Enoch didn’t notice. Enoch still hadn’t seen them kiss, and Jake was still slightly worried Enoch might kill him if he saw. 

When they got down to the town, Fiona went with Miss Peregrine and Olive to the farmers market for food. Enoch was sent to find any organs he needed while Horace, Claire, and Jake went clothes shopping for everyone. They didn’t exactly have money, which was why Miss Peregrine had sent Millard out earlier that morning to pick pockets. She left him with explicit instructions to only steal from those who looked well-off, so Millard found everyone who even slightly resembled Horace and stole their money. 

Enoch went in the direction of the local tailor with Horace, Claire and Jake, but at some point along the way, he had disappeared. Jake only realized he was gone when Claire reached up for his hand now that it wasn’t being occupied in Enoch’s. 

“Where’d Enoch go?” Jake asked Claire.

“Hearts!” She said chipperly. Claire didn’t know _Where_ Enoch went off to, she only knew why. Jake thought about how ominous that sounded.

“Well, it looks like we’re here.” Horace stated as he stopped in front of a small shop. Jake and Claire walked inside, leaving Horace to admire it from the outside for a few more moments. Claire immediately was drawn to a beautiful pink dress. To be honest, it looked exactly like the one she already had on, but who was Jake to judge.

Jake and Horace picked out clothes for each of their shipmates for a good 30 minutes before Enoch made his way inside. “Did you find what you were looking for?” Jake asked, being as vague as possible since they were in public. 

“Yes.” Enoch smiled creepily.

“Where did you find it?” Jake asked. He was very curious about where Enoch got his ‘ _supplies’_. Did he murder animals? Did he raid funeral homes? Did he find roadkill and dissect it in the street?

“You don’t want to know.” Enoch responded, suddenly becoming interested in a piece of clothing. It was a knee length, green velvet dress. “do you think Olive would like this?” He asked Jake. 

“Honestly?” Jake answered. “I have no idea. I’ve only ever seen you guys in the same exact clothes.” Jake was being truthful, he had never even thought about what else they could possibly wear. “She would look pretty in it though.” He offered when he noticed Enoch’s face falter slightly.

“Yeah, she would. It would go with her hair.” Enoch said. He perked up at the thought of giving Olive a new dress. Olive was the most gracious person when receiving gifts. She was so genuinely grateful that it made Enoch incredibly happy to gift her things. Jake felt weird at how happy Enoch was when he was around Olive or doing things for Olive. Was this jealousy? Jake didn’t get jealous, that wasn’t a feeling he had ever really felt before, not like this at least. It couldn’t be jealousy, he must just be hungry, that was it. Jake’s stomach hurt because he was hungry.

“You should get it for her.” Jake said. “Any thoughts on something for Emma?” Jake asked pointedly. He didn’t know why he was behaving this way, it was very immature.

“Yeah, go for something blue. Don’t get her a dress though. I’ve been noticing her struggling with the dress when she floats. This way she’ll have her blue dress and something else.” Enoch said. 

“It’s going to be hard to find her pants that don’t look awful in this time period.” Jake said. “I’m sure she’ll look amazing!” Jake clarified quickly when Enoch shot him a dirty look. “I just mean, I don’t know if she’ll be happy with them. I mean- aren’t pants for women made for men right now? What I mean is… weren’t the style of pants the same as the men’s, they just made them in smaller sizes for the workers?” Jake asked. Horace listened to Jake’s inaccurate statement. It took everything within him to not smack the kid on the back of the head for such an ignorant comment.

“So?” Enoch asked. Enoch truly didn’t know if that was true or not, he had never paid too much attention to fashion as nothing he ever saw truly resonated with him.

“Well…the pants are kind of ugly in this time period…no offense.” Jake said.

“That’s your opinion.” Enoch said, he moved away from Jake to look at something on the other side of the shop. “You’re from the future, Jake. Your opinion on clothing style is vastly different from everyone else’s here.” For someone who didn’t usually speak much when he wasn’t insulting Jake, Enoch was surprisingly wise in that moment.

“I guess your right.” Jake said. “Sorry. I sometimes forget I’m in the past. Even now, after being in the Navy for a year, it’s kind of weird. Your mind doesn’t adjust well to time switches if you’ve never lived in that time period.” Enoch gave Jake a fleeting apologetic look. 

“I think I found the perfect thing for Emma.” Horace spoke up. He had decided to help the two find clothes for Emma after being appalled at Jake’s misinformation about women’s clothing, after all, Horace didn’t trust either of them to find attractive garments. 

Jake didn’t have confidence in Horace’s find, until he walked over to the boy. Surprisingly, Horace had found pants that would look amazing on Emma. They were yellow and Horace had paired them with a light blue blouse. The tag said ‘Wide flowing Pleated pants. For WOMEN!’ like it was some novelty that pants would be made for women.

“That’s actually perfect.” Jake said. 

“Yeah, it’s flowy like she likes.” Enoch said. Enoch assumed that was what she liked, since flowy was what she wore every day, but he had never actually bothered to ask her.

The group left the Tailor shop with a mountain of clothing. After all, one pair of clothes for each of the peculiars, minus the twins and Jake who had brought extra clothes, was nine new pairs of clothes.

The group did some more shopping for other items that their friends had requested. Claire had found a new doll for herself and two identical teddy bears for the twins. She had chosen a ragdoll for Bronwyn. 

They met back up with Fiona, Olive, and Miss Peregrine, who had found an abundance of foods. They were all starting back to the ship when Claire stopped, pulling on Enoch’s hand to get his attention. Enoch looked down at her. 

“Yes?” He asked.

“I lost my doll.” She said, staring up at him with a distraught look on her face before looking through the small bag of toys Horace had given her to hold. 

“Let me see that.” Enoch said, taking the bag from her hands. He looked through it, she was right. The doll wasn’t in there. “Where did you have it last?” He asked.

“I don’t know.” Claire responded, sadly. At this point Miss Peregrine and the others noticed that Enoch and Claire had stopped. 

“What’s the matter, Claire?” Miss Peregrine asked.

“I lost my doll.” “She lost her doll.” Claire and Enoch spoke at the same time.

“Oh dear.” Miss Peregrine said. “Hmm… Where have you gone today? Perhaps it’s still in one of those places?” The bird suggested.

“I went to the tailor shop, the toy store, the antique shop, that nice old ladies house, the place with all the loud men, and the morgue.” Claire responded. 

“My goodness! You went to all of those places?” Miss Peregrine asked the group. Enoch, Horace, and Jake all shook their heads. 

“When did you go to the morgue, an old woman’s house, and the pub?” Enoch asked Claire. 

“You all were taking too long in the antique shop, I got bored and did some exploring.” Claire said. “I tried to find you some more hearts, but I couldn’t find any at the morgue. They seemed to be all out.” Enoch went red at this, earning a knowing look from Miss Peregrine. 

“Well. Enoch, Jake, Olive, will you please search for Claire’s doll While Fiona, Horace, Claire, and I make our way back to the ship and get breakfast started?” Miss Peregrine asked.

“It’s more like lunch at this point, maybe even early dinner.” Enoch snarked. Miss Peregrine shot him a warning look. “Yes, we’ll go look for the doll.” He said.

“We will be having a talk about responsibility when you get back.” Miss Peregrine stated to Horace, Jake, and Enoch for letting Claire get out of their sights for so long. 

Jake, Olive, and Enoch went to the morgue first, Jake and Olive following Enoch’s lead. They had to sneak in. Enoch looked pleased with himself when they heard morticians frantically searching for the heart they had “misplaced”. They had to skip looking for the old woman’s house, as they had no way of finding her. Their last place to search was the pub. The second the three of them walked in, the place seemed familiar, leaving them all on edge.

Olive snuck off somewhere, looking for the doll, she had her eyes glued to the floor. Jake and Enoch were at the bar. Jake was leaned against the bar, scanning the entire pub while Enoch searched under the counter. Jake felt someone bump into him, it hurt more than he would have expected based solely on sight, he must have been jabbed with an elbow. Jake had a sinking feeling when he noticed the Grey sweater.

“Ay! Watch it!” Enoch said, shooting his head up from under the counter. Jake was surprised he didn’t smack the back of his head on the way up.

The man puffed up his chest and placed his hand on Jake. “You mean like this?” He asked, pushing Jake’s shoulder. It wasn’t hard, simply a way to rile Enoch. It was most definitely working as Jake noticed Enoch staring the man down like he was planning a murder.

“That still doesn’t make any sense.” Jake said. “Enoch, let’s go.” Jake said half-heartedly. He almost wanted to see Enoch go off at someone for him. It was weirdly validating. Enoch still seemed distant to Jake, this was proving that Enoch actually cared for the boy.

Jake saw Olive holding the toy up triumphantly by the entrance, trying to signal to them to leave. She recognized that look on Enoch’s face, and if they weren’t able to deescalate within the next few seconds, she did not want to be there when things went down. Olive knew Enoch would try to sneak out and send a creepy puppet after the guy to stab the man, which would lead to a witch hunt and would get them all in trouble with Miss Peregrine. 

“I think Olive found it! We should leave.” Jake said. He noticed that his words didn’t match up to the dream anymore, he figured it was because he already knew what would happen leading him to change his reactions.

“Don’t. Touch. Him.” Enoch warned, eyes like steel, cutting into the man’s soul. Enoch was clearly ignoring Jake, well, it appeared that way to Jake. Enoch simply hadn’t heard him over his hatred for the man in front of him.

“Enoch, He’s like two feet taller than you, we should go.” Jake tried to reason. He heard a soft noise coming from next to him. “Are-Are you growling?” He asked Enoch.

Olive came to the rescue. She was still standing by the door, but let out a yelp to get Enoch’s attention. Jake saw Enoch’s head snap over toward Olive. “What’s wrong!?” He asked, rushing over to the woman’s side. Jake rushed over, not wanting to be alone next to the drunken man, even though the man seemed to lose all interest in bothering Jake when the promise of a fight was no longer imminent. 

“I’m fine now.” Olive said. “I just stepped on my ankle wrong. Will you help me back to the ship, please?” Olive asked. She winked at Jake when Enoch bent down to look at her ankle. Enoch was checking for any swelling. 

“Alright, but next time…” He left the sentence unfinished, which somehow sounded more intimidating to Jake then a finished threat. The entire way back to the ship Jake was looking at Enoch’s face, trying to figure out what he was thinking as Enoch supported Olive who was doing an amazing job at acting injured. Enoch seemed like he was plotting, which made Jake uneasy. 

The second they stepped foot on the ship Olive stood up straight and started walking normally. It was almost dark at this point, twilight hours. They had gone the entire day without food and Enoch was starting to feel it. Enoch lost a lot of emotional control and self-regulation when he was hungry.

“You were faking!?” He shouted at Olive. There wasn’t much anger in his voice mainly exasperation that he helped carry her all the way home. Jake flinched at the sudden sound next to him. Olive still looked pleased with herself, knowing Enoch wasn’t actually mad at her, only slightly frustrated.

“Enoch, you’re being loud and hurting Jake’s ears.” Emma said as she walked toward them. Enoch’s face fell flat. Jake hated when it did that. Jake almost preferred an evil expression on Enoch’s face then nothing at all. Jake couldn’t gauge what he was feeling, although, he supposed that was the point.

“It’s okay, Enoch. We’re outside, you couldn’t have known.” Olive assured him. 

Emma greeted Jake with a kiss, this time, Enoch _did_ notice. He stared at them for a moment, Jake could feel his gaze. He opened his eyes and looked over toward Enoch while Emma continued kissing him. Enoch had a very confused look on his face. It wasn’t the type of confusion where he didn’t understand what was going on, it was emotional confusion, it was clear there was an internal struggle happening inside of the boy. Jake started to pull away from Emma, he didn’t want Enoch pushing him off the ship in a fit of rage, but by the time he had fully pulled away, Enoch was already storming off. Olive quickly followed Enoch. 

“I should-“ Jake said, shifting to go after Enoch.

“Don’t!” Emma grabbed Jakes arm to stop him. Jake looked at her confused. 

“What did I do?” He asked. 

“Nothing.” Emma stated. “Enoch’s just-”

“Possessive, I know.” Jake finished, quoting Emma’s previous words to him the day that they had met. “Why shouldn’t I go after him?” Jake asked.

“Enoch is very sensitive. He lives in a cycle of shame and anger.” Emma explained. “When something scares him, often change, but sometimes it’s other things too. He often goes into a survival mode.” 

“Like fight or flight?” Jake interjected.

“Yes.” Emma responded. “I wasn’t sure if you still had that term in the future.” She gave him a small smile. “Enoch will get scared, he lashes out, the fight.” She clarified. “Then, he feels embarrassed and ashamed for lashing out, which causes him to lash out even more. When he get’s upset like this, it’s best to leave him alone. He’s in the flight right now, and if you disturb him before he’s ready, you’re just going to set him back.” Emma said. “Olive is really good at knowing when to follow him and when to let him be, but I haven’t mastered it yet, so it’s best to just let him calm down.” Emma put her hand to Jake’s cheek. He looked so much like Abe today.

“So…What do I do? How do I know when he’s calm?” Jake asked.

“He’ll come to you. He will get hungry soon, actually, probably already is. He doesn’t handle hunger well. Eventually he’ll come into a common area, when he does, don’t talk to him. Don’t initiate conversation until he initiates it with you first. That’s the safest way when you aren’t sure what to do around him.” Emma was being very helpful. Jake felt weird asking her about Enoch, but then again, she was his sister, it shouldn’t feel weird.

“Should we eat then?” Jake asked. 

“Yes. We shall.” Emma said, taking Jake’s arm. Emma had already eaten, but she didn’t mind eating a little more with Jake. 

~

Emma and Jake got left over food from the kitchen that Miss Peregrine had left out for them. Olive showed up for a moment packing a plate full of food, then rushing toward the cabins. She must have been bringing Enoch some food. Jake was glad to know he was eating. 

“Emma?” Jake asked after a long moment of silence.

“Yes?” Emma responded.

“When I was talking to my grandfather…He seemed really surprised that I had a thing for you. I thought it was because you and he had-“ Jake cut himself off and skipped to another sentence. “Anyway. He said “I wasn’t expecting that” and that “I thought you would gravitate more toward Enoch’s friend group. Shows you how wrong you can be about some people.”” Jake looked at Emma confused when she snorted. “First off…I didn’t know Enoch had friends outside of Olive. Second of all, why are you laughing? What does that mean?” Jake asked confused.

“Abe has always had this suspicion about Enoch…” Emma said. Jake leaned in waiting for her to finish her sentence anxiously. “He used to make jokes that he thought Enoch might not…be interested in women.” Emma tried to put it as lightly as possible.

“Wait…like…He’s gay?” Jake asked.

“No! I don’t think I’ve ever seen Enoch gay a day in my life! He’s more sullen, mostly, but I have seen him reach mildly enthusiastic on rare occasions.” Emma responded.

“No…I mean like, homosexual.” Jake clarified.

“Oh!” Emma seemed shocked by the word. “Yes.” She shyly answered.

“Then…He didn’t know about Enoch and Olive?” Jake said. 

“What?” Emma asked.

“You know…He and Olive are an item? He’s so protective of her-and they hold hands and hug and stuff.” Jake said. Emma looked at him silently for a moment.

“I can’t say what Enoch is for sure, but I can assure you he has never had romantic feelings for Olive. She’s like his sister, just like me. Olive gives Enoch a sense of security. She’s always around, she’s consistent. Olive is the one person who has taken an interest in Enoch’s necromancy, and since he doesn’t have a lot of other hobbies, he hasn’t made a lot of friends.” Emma said. Jake thought for a moment. He felt even worse for his initial reaction to Enoch’s abilities.

“Wait! Was my grandfather calling me gay?” Jake asked, finally understanding the connotations to what his grandfather was saying. “that’s so rude!” Emma laughed at this. “I mean, you don’t make comments about people’s sexuality like that!” Jake said. “Wait-he didn’t tease Enoch, did he?” Jake had concern written all over his face.

“No! Of course not! Abe would never do that! He just made little jokes to me when Enoch would say things. Enoch would say something about wanting to steal the heart of one of the farmer boys down the road from our house that had been annoying him. He meant it as a threat, but Abe would give me pointed looks, calling the double meaning to my attention. It was mainly just looks that went completely over Enoch’s head.” Emma tried to justify it.

“I’m gonna be honest. I don’t really know how to feel about that. I mean, I know you guys are from a different time, so I should give you more slack, but…I would hate that.” Jake said.

“No one makes comments like that anymore. I’m the only person Abe told his suspicions to, so please don’t tell the others. I can’t imagine the torment he would deal with if the younger kids started speculating. Millard can be viscous without realizing it.” Emma said.

“Don’t worry, I’d never out someone, especially when it’s all just speculation.” Jake promised.

“Are things better in the future, Jake?” Emma asked. “Are people allowed to love who they wish?” 

“In most places in the Americas and most of Europe, legally, yes, socially…It’s a mixed bag. It all depends on who you talk to. But there are parades every June and they’re allowed to get married. There are still a lot of countries that have the death penalty for it though.” Jake explained. Emma looked sad at this. 

“I was hoping the future would be equal for everyone. I know it’s a lot to ask for such a short amount of time but, I hoped this war would show the world what hatred can do. I hoped we would all come together after this, as one unified world.” Emma was hopelessly optimistic at times. It was refreshing, but it made Jake sad to think about how disappointing reality must be for her. 

~

It was movie time and everyone was settling down to watch Horace’s newest dreams. Jake noticed Enoch and Olive quietly enter the room behind the rest of the group. He decided to do what Emma told him and ignore Enoch until Enoch initiated interaction. Jake was surprised when Enoch sat next to him. This time he was on Jake’s opposite side, instead of squeezing between Jake and Emma. Jake snuck a peak at Enoch’s face. His head was down. He wasn’t looking at the screen at all. He almost looked as if he was trying to go invisible. Jake was amazed at how still Enoch was. Enoch was silent for the entirety of the dream until the projection was shut off and Jake stood up with the rest of the kids.

“My legs are numb.” Jake told Emma.

“It’s probably those future pants you’ve got on.” Enoch said quietly, almost like he didn’t want anyone to hear. Emma looked confused but gave Jake an encouraging look when he looked at her for permission to interact. He smiled and chuckled a little at Enoch’s comment, which earned him a microscopic smile from Enoch. Enoch was clearly pleased with himself.

“They’re still more fashionable than those old man pants of yours.” Jake snarked. Enoch still wouldn’t make eye contact with Jake, but he did get a small glance from Enoch, who still had a small upturn on his lips.

“And that’s still your opinion.” Enoch retorted even quieter than his first comment. 

“Off to bed children!” Miss Peregrine chirped. They’re routine had been thrown off as they no longer had the loop to reset. Movie time had become much later in the night. 

Enoch turned to head toward the cabins alone. Olive started to follow behind him but gave Jake a smile and a thumbs up as a silent “good job”.

“I did it! I got him to interact with me!” Jake said excitedly to Emma. “I think I’m getting the hang of things around here! I really feel like I’m starting to fit in, like I belong here, like I understand you guys.” This was huge for Jake, he had never felt like he fit in anywhere, like he had never belonged in the world until he came here. It was a huge adjustment that had taken some time, but he was catching on to things quickly.

“He’s really started to warm up to you fast, Jake.” Emma said. She said his name a lot when she spoke, as a small, internal reminder that he wasn’t Abe.

~

It had been a few weeks and Enoch was in his cabin reading a book he had borrowed from Horace. Enoch had been bored and Horace suggested the book. It was a collaboration of different short stories and poems by Edgar Allan Poe.

Enoch heard a small knock on the metal door. “Come in.” He said, looking up from the book. His eyes met Jake’s. “What do you want?” Enoch asked. There wasn’t any malice in his voice, but it was blunt. Jake looked slightly uncomfortable.

“Can I come in?” Jake asked. Enoch looked at Jake questioningly.

“I don’t know. Can you?” He asked sarcastically.

“Sarcasm? I didn’t take you as the type to be so covertly mean.” Jake joked. He stepped into the room anyway, closing the door behind him.

“I learned it from Horace.” Enoch stated. Enoch had learned a lot about subtlety from watching Horace savagely rip into his family members souls with his passive aggressive comments and hidden put-downs. Enoch didn’t possess the ability for subtlety himself, but he had learned enough to create his own version of passive aggressive humor. “Now what do you want?” Enoch didn’t mind having Jake in his room, it wasn’t like he was busy or anything. Enoch was enjoying the book, but it wasn’t completely wrapping his attention. Enoch was uncomfortable with the amount of time Jake was taking to get to his point, and it was unnerving him, he didn’t know what to prepare for, because he didn’t know what Jake’s visit was about.

“Well…I wanted to explain something… and apologize for my reaction to your peculiarity at first.” Jake said. 

“Okay.” Enoch said emotionless. Enoch wasn’t sure how to feel yet, he was still gauging, as Jake hadn’t really said anything yet.

“When you first showed me your peculiarity, I was still adjusting. I hadn’t really gotten used to the things you guys could do yet…I didn’t know _anybody_ could actually do that stuff! I had heard stories from my grandpa, but…I had stopped believing in them years ago. I was still getting used to peculiarities being real, and to make matters worse…I’ve always had a fear of dolls.” Jake admitted the last part sheepishly. “Especially animate dolls with weapons.” Jake said. “The Skeletons you made were amazing, Enoch! I just get creeped out by the dolls, it has nothing to do with you or your peculiarity. So…I’m sorry for not reacting well when you first showed me your abilities.” Jake said. 

Enoch gave a forced smile. He was uncomfortable with Jake’s show of emotions. Jake’s emotions were affecting Enoch, causing emotions to bubble up in Enoch that he didn’t want to be having in front of Jake. There were many emotions Enoch kept guarded from people, he tried to keep them from seeing in him. “Okay.” He said. Enoch didn’t thank people very often, nor did he know he was supposed to thank Jake in this situation. People didn’t apologize to Enoch often, normally, he was the one that was supposed to be apologizing to them, whether he actually did or not was beside the point. 

Jake stood there awkwardly. “So…do you forgive me?” Jake asked.

“Yeah.” Enoch said. He hadn’t really thought about Jake’s reaction to his peculiarity in a while, he had had more pressing issues to deal with when they lost their home. Besides, Jake’s reaction to his skeletons had increased Enoch’s personal confidence in his peculiarity. 

“What are you reading?” Jake asked Enoch, noticing the book in his lap.

“Edgar something-something.” Enoch said, not bothering to pick the book up to look.

“Edgar Allan Poe?” Jake asked. “I had to read some of his work in school. Do you like it?” Jake would be surprised if Mr. McDarkenson didn’t like Edgar Allan Poe,

“It’s alright.” Enoch said. “Entertaining enough. The Masque of the Red Death is my favorite so far.” Enoch explained. 

“The Raven was my favorite.” Jake said.

“Horace said that one was popular.” Enoch said.

Jake stood awkwardly in silence for another moment. There was a reason he had chosen right then to apologize to Enoch. He was bored. Everyone else was either busy or playing a game that seemed like it was likely to get Jake injured. “Do you mind if I stay and read over your shoulder?” Jake asked. Enoch looked at him for a moment, thinking the question over in his mind.

Enoch wanted to spend more time with Jake. Now that Jake had made the promise to stay by spending a year tracking the ship down, Enoch wanted to try to get to know the boy better. He wanted to try and become friends. Maybe Enoch wouldn’t feel so isolated within the group if he had Olive _and_ Jake? “Fine.” He said, shifting to sit on the side of the cot that was attached to the wall rather than at the head to allow room for his guest.

“Thanks. I don’t want Bronwyn asking me to play whatever the game they’re playing right now is. I know if I agree to play, I’m gonna get hurt.” Jake said, sitting next to Enoch. 

Enoch held the book open for Jake, who peered down at the pages. Jake had his arm hanging on Enoch’s shoulder to try and steady himself. Enoch was having trouble focusing on the book now, all he could do was think about Jake’s scent which was overwhelming his senses. It wasn’t a bad smell, nor was it strong, it wasn’t a smell he would normally have issues with, but he couldn’t stop fixating on it. Enoch’s brain wouldn’t allow him to shut the smell out and continue reading. The fixation on the smell kept Enoch from hyper-fixating on the weight of Jake’s arm on his shoulder. 

“Where are you?” Jake asked after a moment. “I want to start where you are so I can keep up.” He explained. Enoch shifted the book into his left hand so that he could use his right to point.

“Here.” Enoch pointed at a sentence. Jake leaned in a little to start reading. Enoch tried to block out the scent to focus on the book again. It took a lot of energy, but he was able to manage, and eventually he was enveloped enough in the story that it was like Jake wasn’t even there. The opposite was happening for Jake however. 

Jake slowly became very aware of Enoch’s arm and shoulder touching Jake’s side. Enoch smelled of ash, a similar smell to Olive however, there was something else in there, it must have been his own natural scent seeping through Olive’s ash. Jake snuck a glance at Enoch’s face and his stomach dropped. He had no explanation for why it decided to drop in that specific moment, but his chest started feeling jittery as well. Jake watched Enoch’s dark eyes move across the page.

Enoch noticed Jake looking at him. He turned his head slightly to look at Jake with concern and question written on his eyebrows. Jakes stomach dropped again which he hadn’t even known was possible.

“Jake?” Enoch questioned softly. Jake pulled himself out of whatever headspace he was in. 

“Sorry…” Jake decided it was best to not even try and explain. He was sure there was a reasonable explanation for this. There had to be, he just couldn’t find one in that moment.

“Are you okay?” The genuine concern in Enoch’s voice made Jake melt slightly.

“Yeah. I’m okay. Thanks for asking.” Jake said. “I should check on Miss Peregrine though. Make sure she doesn’t need any help with anything.” Jake said, making a poor excuse to leave and clear his head before he did something stupid.

~

Jake left, trying to clear his head, hoping the fresh sea air would help him. Why was his body acting the way it was? Why was his brain allowing it? Did he have feelings for Enoch? It wasn’t surprising. Enoch was incredibly attractive, but _REALLY!? ENOCH!?_ Why did it have to be Enoch? Why couldn’t he have had some bisexual awakening back in 2016, with some guy that wasn’t his girlfriend’s brother? Jake guessed he should have seen this coming. The cuffed pants, the combat boots, the multiple layers of clothing that didn’t work well together. How did his fashion sense know he was bisexual before he did? His incessant need to obtain Enoch’s approval and attention was another big sign he had missed. 

Jakes next steps were to try and figure out how to suppress his attraction while maintaining a relationship with his crush’s sister. A woman he really did care about, Jake would even go as far as to say he loved Emma. 

~

It had been another few weeks, nothing incredibly interesting had happened. All of the children were getting restless, Fiona was saddened at the lack of nature around her, Hugh and Millard were upset at the small areas they had to run in and the absence of materials for games, and Horace was frustrated at the incredibly tight, dark spaces he was constantly subject to. Jake wondered if Horace had a vitamin D deficiency.

The peculiars were all helping make dessert this night. They had all been working very hard and Miss Peregrine wanted to reward them with a treat. They were making zucchini bread, carrot cake, and blueberry muffins with the food Fiona had supplied them from seeds she had picked up from the market a few weeks back.

Emma and Jake were in charge of icing the carrot cake while the rest of the kids were mixing the zucchini bread and blueberry muffins. Enoch and Bronwyn were in charge of stirring the ingredients after the others had finished measuring ingredients and putting them all in bowls. Enoch was talking to Olive while he roughly stirred the muffin mix, trying to ignore Emma and Jake flirting.

Jake noticed a small amount of frosting on his finger, he thought the best place for it would be on Emma’s nose. Jake shot his hand out and smudged the icing on Emma’s nose, trying to start shenanigans. She inhaled sharply at the surprise. Her face broke into a malicious smile.

“Oh! I’ll get you for that, Jacob Portman!” Emma said playfully. She turned toward him and Jake knew he needed to run. He turned as fast as he could to make his way to the other side of the counter to use it as a barrier between them. Emma had given him the extra time to escape. She stood across from him in a playfully ready stance, looking for her best path to him. 

Emma darted to move around the counter and Jake panicked. He jumped backwards and bolted for Enoch. Jake placed a hand on Enoch’s hip to both let the man know he was behind him and to stabilize himself as Jake snuck his head under Enoch’s arm to snag a batter-covered blueberry from Enoch’s bowl and threw it at Emma. Enoch tensed at the sudden contact. He then noticed Jake take one of his blueberries to flirt-fight with Emma. Enoch loudly placed his mixing bowl down and stormed out of the room. Jake and Emma were too enveloped in their game to notice, however. 

Olive took over mixing the muffin mix for Enoch. She knew she was the only responsible person in the room at the moment. Jake grabbed another blueberry from Olive.

“Ah! Abe!” Emma squeaked. Her face immediately fell and she stood up straight. Jake stood to a normal stance again as well.

“It’s okay!” Jake tried to reassure.

“No, Jake…It’s not.” Emma ran off, starting to cry. Jake stood there for a moment, processing. He followed after his girlfriend when his brain caught up to what was happening.

“Emma! Wait!” He called after her. 

Emma stopped when they were far from the others. Jake caught up to her nearly immediately, stopping next to her. Emma turned to look at him.

“It’s not alright, Jake.” Emma said.

“It was a mistake, I know.” Jake assured her.

“No, Jake. It’s not a mistake. It’s who I truly love. I still love Abe! I know that now. I was trying to use you as a do-over, and that’s not fair to you. I still love Abe, and…I’m not sure I ever won’t.” She had tears in her eyes as she explained. Jake stood there in shock, silently taking in the information trying to rationalize in his head. “I thought I loved you, but I loved the idea of you. I loved the idea that you would take Abe’s place, that you would _be_ Abe. But you’re not, you’re your own person, a wonderful person. But…You’re not a person that I can love, not in the way that I love Abe, not in the way you want, not the way you deserve. I’m so sorry Jake. You deserve so much better.” Emma placed her hand on Jake’s cheek with a sorrowful look in her eyes. 

Jake stood there, looking into Emma’s eyes. He didn’t know what to say. He was still processing what this meant. 

“Goodbye, Jake.” Emma said, pressing one last kiss to his lips before she let her hand drop from his cheek, back to her side. Emma walked off toward the upper deck to look over the ocean and clear her thoughts, as well as to cry in private.

Jake didn’t move for an excruciating amount of time. He didn’t really know how to process what had just happened. After standing in the same place for an undetermined amount of time, Jake’s first thought was ‘Enoch’. He didn’t know why this was his first thought, as Olive would be much better support and would have much better advice, but the person he wanted to be around at that moment was Enoch, so Jake didn’t argue with himself.

Jake went back to the kitchen to find Enoch, but he wasn’t there. Jake hadn’t noticed when Enoch left, he had been too enveloped in his food fight.

“Olive!” He grabbed Olive’s attention. “Where’s Enoch?” He asked. Jake was in a hazy state, not fully living in reality. He was having trouble wrapping his brain around Emma’s words. Had it really happened? It happened so fast, could it have just been a dream?

“He’s probably in his cabin, that’s where he tends to go when he runs off.” She answered. When honerad Enoch run off? Jake fleetingly thought. 

~

Jake followed Olive’s instructions and went to Enoch’s cabin. He didn’t knock this time, he was too stuck in his own head to consider it. Enoch didn’t even look up. He didn’t need to; he knew who it was. Olive always knocked and said his name in a sweet questioning voice and Emma would stand outside of the door and call for him to come out, she never liked being in his spaces. Emma hadn’t liked being in Enoch’s room when they were back at the house and she didn’t like it here either. Something about his jars of hearts unnerved her. ‘I just keep thinking about how squishy they must be.’ She had told him once, disgustedly. Enoch hadn’t taken offense to this as he knew it was about the hearts and not his peculiarity. The rest of the children would just scream Enoch’s name until he came out, and Miss Peregrine would send someone else to get him. Through the process of elimination, Jake was the only possibility left.

“Why are you with her? She doesn’t see you as your own person. She only sees you as a way to relive her lost love with your grandfather. You don’t deserve that.” Enoch stated angrily before Jake could say a word. 

Jake stood there for a moment taking in the words Enoch had said to him. “I know.” He said quietly.

“What?” Enoch’s head shot up to look at Jake questioningly. 

“She just told me. And…I think she just broke up with me too.” Jake said, sadness abundant in his voice. He was holding back tears.

“Oh.” Enoch stood up, staring at Jake. He didn’t know what to do or how to help, nor did he know how to ask Jake what he needed. “What-“ Enoch cut himself off, not knowing how to finish the sentence.

Luckily, Jake caught on to what Enoch was trying to say. “Could I just have a hug? Is that okay?” He asked. Enoch stood in front of him awkwardly for a minute before doing anything. He thought about the request for a minute. Enoch knew that all he would be able to do was think about every single part of his body that had contact with Jake. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for a hug with Jake yet, he wanted to hug him, he wanted to do whatever he could to make the look on Jake’s face disappear, but could he emotionally handle it? Enoch slowly gave a nod of approval and awkwardly opened his arms for Jake to walk into. He had decided to do whatever it took to help Jake, and if it meant he got too attached to the boy, so be it, Enoch would just have to suppress those feelings as he did most others. Jake stepped forward and wrapped his arms under Enoch’s, placing his head under Enoch’s chin, it was slightly awkward as Jake was a bit taller than Enoch, but it was helping.

Enoch closed his arms around Jake and rested his chin on top of Jake’s head after a few moments of contemplation. Enoch didn’t have a lot of practice with hugs. Every person was different, and he only ever hugged two people, one of which was a fairly new development in and of itself. 

The steady rhythm of Enoch’s chest rising and falling as he breathed relaxed Jake slightly. It gave him something to focus on, to bring himself back to the moment, to ground him in reality. Enoch was warm and Jake felt safe in his arms. 

Enoch was surprised at how easy hugging Jake was. He wasn’t hyper aware of both his and Jake’s bodies in relation to each other, as he expected to be, as he normally was with hugs. This time, his mind was completely focused on Jake’s movements, analyzing in his mind whether Jake seemed comfortable, if he was crying, if he still seemed sad at all. Enoch was trying to gauge where or if he should move to a different position and when he should let go. 

“Thank you.” Jake said, quietly. They both stayed this way for a good three minutes before Jake pulled away.

“Do you want me to get Olive?” Enoch offered. “She’s good with this stuff…emotions and everything.” He continued. Jake thought this offer over. He really could use advice on how to live in the same confined space with a woman who had just broken his heart.

“Yeah.” Jake said. “Thank you.” Enoch’s only response was to walk out the door to find Olive. He had a one-track mind, and that was to make Jake feel better. Handling other’s emotions made Enoch uncomfortable.

Enoch found Olive in the kitchen, still making food with the younger kids. She was the only authority figure left in the room. “Horace. You’re in charge now.” Enoch informed the younger boy sharply.

“Alright.” Horace sighed, barely looking up from the book he was reading in the corner while the others worked around him.

“Olive. Come.” Enoch motioned toward the exit with his head. Olive immediately hopped over toward her brother.

“Horace, make sure that Fiona, Hugh and Millard are the only three that take things out of the oven.” Olive warned. Then she left with Enoch to his cabin.

“Emma broke up with Jake.” Enoch explained on the walk back to his room. “He wants advice…or…comfort…or-I don’t really know, you’re just better at this stuff than me.” Enoch said. 

“That’s terrible. Although, I can’t say I didn’t see it coming.” Olive said.

Jake was sitting on Enoch’s bed, waiting, when Enoch and Olive returned. Olive stepped in the small room, then Enoch, who closed the door behind them. “I’m so sorry Jake.” Olive started. “What can I do?” She asked. Enoch hadn’t known that he could simply ask Jake what he needed, without sprucing it up with sensitive language.

“How do I live with her? How do we get past this? I can’t exactly leave.” Jake said. Enoch’s stomach churned. Jake _could_ leave if he wanted. He still had that opportunity. Enoch had selfishly been wishing that Jake and Emma would break up, he didn’t like seeing them together for multiple reasons. For one, Emma was his sister and he wanted to protect her from the pain that relationships had put her through in the past. For two, Jake didn’t deserve to be with someone who was still in love with someone else and using him as a way to relive that lost love. And for three, Enoch had gained feelings for Jake and was having trouble separating his jealousy from reasoning skills. Enoch had inadvertently been wishing for the one thing that could make Jake leave. Enoch had gotten too comfortable in the thought that Jake was permanent now, he hadn’t realized that Jake still had the opportunity to leave. Enoch’s walls rapidly built around his heart in that moment.

“Well…Actually, you can.” Enoch pointed out with more than a hint of venom in his tone. Olive shot him a warning glare. He ignored it. Enoch was in defense mode now. He was pushing Jake away again. “You can still go. You still have that option, unlike us.” Enoch was still bitter and jealous of that fact. Jake had the opportunity to live a full, fulfilled life. Something Enoch could never have at this point.

“I don’t want to leave. You guys are my family now. This is my _home_ now…well, temporarily. Until we find a place where we can create a loop.” Jake clarified. “When I say I _can’t_ leave, I mean I’m not considering it as an option.” That wall that Enoch had just built came crumbling right back down again with those words. A weight felt like it had been lifted from his shoulders and he could relax again. Well, it felt more like he _needed_ to relax. Enoch was exhausted from the internal struggle that had just plagued his emotions and the stress of handling Jake’s feelings. He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms tightly against his chest in a self-soothing hug.

“I think the first thing you need to do before you can move on is grieve, however you do that. Some people like to be alone and self-reflect, like Enoch, others get comfort from spending time with loved ones, like me.” Olive said. “You need to find your grieving strategy, and then you can start the process of moving on.” 

“There is actually one thing that might help. It’s what I did when my grandfather died…but…there’s one problem. It’s only available in the future.” Jake said. 

“You’re in luck.” Olive told him excitedly. “We’re currently near a loop to 1993.” Olive stated. “Does it exist then?” She asked.

“Hmm.” Jake thought. “1993. I’m sure we can find something I know and love. We’re going to the movies.” Jake told them. “I used to watch movies at home in my bed, but we won’t have that option since we don’t have a home with a TV in 1993.” Both Enoch and Olive looked at him confused, they had no idea what a television was. “One question though. How do we get past Miss Peregrine and to the shore? How do we stop the ship so it’s still here when we get back?” Jake asked.

“Fake an injury?” Olive suggested.

“No need to fake one. I can punch Jake if you want me to.” Enoch genuinely offered. 

“No! I would say that punching me would definitely not help me feel better.” Jake said. “But I think Olive just gave me an idea.” 

~

“Miss Peregrine!” Jake ran up to Miss Peregrine frantically. “Something’s wrong with Enoch! I think he might have appendicitis!” Jake proclaimed. “We have to get him to a hospital!” He said. “There’s a loop nearby, to 1993. I think we should go there. If they need to do surgery, he’ll have a better chance of survival.” Jake explained.

Miss Peregrine looked very concerned. “I suppose you’re right. I’ll get the children.” She said, turning to leave.

“No! I think it should just be me and Olive that go with him.” Jake explained. “We’re large enough that we can carry him if it gets that bad, but we’re young enough that the hospital won’t ask for insurance or ID immediately, we have a chance that they’ll treat him before getting paid. They sometimes do that for homeless youth and stuff. At least, some hospitals in America did that.” Jake wasn’t able to gauge Miss Peregrines face, he wasn’t sure if she was buying it. 

“Alright. But don’t let them do any surgery that will keep you all in 1993 for too many hours. I don’t want to see what would happen to you.” Miss Peregrine said. She gave him a knowing look. She knew they didn’t have a medical emergency, but for some reason, she allowed them to continue with their ruse, and even played along. She started to walk away but stopped. “And Jake.” She said, “Be on the lookout for any Hollowgasts. I don’t expect to see any out here, but you can never be too careful.” She exclaimed.

“Of course Miss Peregrine.” Jake said. He rushed off to tell Olive and Enoch that Miss Peregrine was stopping the ship.

Enoch, Olive, and Jake snuck off the ship, Enoch grasping his stomach pretending to be in tremendous pain while Olive and Jake escorted him off the boat.

The loop was in the subway car of a bustling city. Olive, Jake, and Enoch entered one after the other, filing through to the other side of the car, back into the station. A large crowd of modernized people suddenly surrounded the trio. 

Olive felt bad for leaving Emma behind, but both Jake and Enoch needed her and she knew Emma was more well-equipped to deal with her emotions on her own; besides, Emma was the type of person who would go to Miss Peregrine if she really needed to, Jake probably wouldn’t. Olive was surprised that he went to anyone, especially that he went to Enoch for emotional support.

“Olive.” Enoch’s voice snapped Olive’s attention back to the present. “Look at their clothes.” Enoch said, looking around at all the people. “They don’t look anything like Jake.” Enoch said.

“That’s because their fashion is a good 20 years before mine.” Jake stated. Enoch found amusement in watching people wander around busily in their silly clothes. 

“Okay, that guy looks like Jake.” Enoch said pointing to a teen wearing similar clothes to the ones Jake often wore.

“Enoch, stop staring at people. We don’t want to bring attention to ourselves.” Olive said nervously. It was clear that she was scared of causing trouble. Olive tended to get in trouble anywhere she went because of her powers. 

“Come on!” Jake said. “This way.” He motioned for the two to follow him as he started up the stairs, back to the city street which was now much busier than it had been a few minutes ago. Perhaps busy isn’t the best word, the people were no less busy, but the street was far more crowded.

“Is this really what cars look like in the future?” Enoch asked. He wasn’t very interested in cars in general, however, these cars had grabbed his attention simply for the fact of how different they were. 

“Yeah, your time period had cooler looking cars to be completely honest.” Jake said. 

“Do you even know where the movie theatre is?” Olive asked Jake, changing the subject to a far more important one, after all, they only had so much time.

“No, I’ve never been to this city before, but I’m sure we can find a map or a person to give us directions.” Jake assured. Olive slipped her hand in Enoch’s so they wouldn’t lose each other in the crowd, she then tugged on Jake’s sleeve to get his attention again, as he had started looking around for a person he could stop. 

“Jake, grab Enoch’s hand so we don’t get separated.” She said. Jake complied immediately. 

“Good thinking.” Jake said. Enoch was slightly uncomfortable with having both of his hands incapacitated, however, he gained a sense of security and safety from Olive, and he had been wanting to hold Jake’s hand for a while now, even if he hadn’t recognized it until that point. “There’s a person holding a map.” Jake said, pointing to someone who was clearly a tourist. 

Jake led the group to the man with the map. “Excuse me, but, would you mind if we borrow your map for a minute to find the nearest movie theater?” Jake asked.

“Of course! No problem!” The man had a German accent, which visibly off-put Olive and Enoch for a moment before they remembered they were in the future. The man held out his map for them to be able to look over his shoulder. “We are here.” He pointed to a spot on the map.

“It looks like this is the closest one.” Jake told Enoch and Olive, as he pointed to a theater. 

“Thank you so much, sir.” Olive said. Jake memorized the route and led the group in the direction they needed to go, grabbing Enoch’s hand again to make sure they didn’t lose each other. Enoch was glad Jake was looking forward, because he would have noticed the pink crawling up Enoch’s cheeks if he had looked back. 

~

The group got to the theater. They looked at the movies playing and Jake’s face immediately lit up. “Jurassic Park! It’s a classic! We have to see it!” He said.

“I think we forgot one crucial thing.” Enoch spoke up with judgement in his voice, however, Jake knew he didn’t mean anything by his tone, since he was including himself in the collective “we”. “We don’t have any money.” He finished.

“Don’t worry about that. We’re gonna sneak in. Teens have been doing this for ages.” Jake told the two. Olive looked nervous. She was violently opposed to the idea of breaking the rules, breaking the law. They couldn’t get in trouble in the future and not be able to get back to their time. However, Olive didn’t have the courage to oppose the plan. 

Jake snuck Enoch and Olive into the movie theater. They found seats in the center of the room. Jake ushered Olive and Enoch down the isle in front of him, so that Enoch could be in the middle. Jake wasn’t dumb, he had picked up on the fact that Enoch tended to need a little extra help from others in social or emotional situations, Jake wanted him to have Olive right there to comfort him in this new experience, and he didn’t want Enoch to have to sit next to someone he didn’t know. 

Jake didn’t think there was a theater on the island and he knew little to nothing about Enoch’s past before the home, so he had absolutely no way of knowing if Enoch had ever been to the movie theater before. One thing Jake did know for sure however, was that Enoch had never seen dinosaurs as realistic as the ones in Jurassic Park.

They sat down. Jake told them both to whisper in the theater, not knowing if they knew the etiquette. 

“What’s this movie about?” Enoch asked. 

“It’s about an island filled with dinosaurs.” Jake summarized as the trailer’s started up. The second the screen turned on he recognized that Enoch was no longer listening to him, but instead completely entranced by the screen.

Olive grabbed Enoch’s hand from excitement, as she watched the pictures moving in front of her. Eventually the movie started, but by that point, Jake had already forgotten which movie they were supposed to be watching. 

Enoch squeezed Olive’s hand slightly the first time he saw a dinosaur. “This is so much better than dreams about clothes, isn’t it?” Olive asked in his ear, making Enoch smile and nod.

“Do people die?” Enoch whispered in Jake’s ear.

“Yeah.” Jake replied.

“When?” Jake could hear excitement in Enoch’s voice. While it slightly disturbed him, knowing Enoch’s personality and the fact that he may have killed people in the past to get hearts (seriously, Jake had no idea where Enoch got his organs), it was also endearing to hear him happy.

“Soon.” Jake couldn’t help the large smile that crept on his face. “Just keep watching. It’ll surprise you…or not, the deaths are either really surprising or really predictable.” Jake said.

Enoch sat back and watched the screen with anticipation. Jake looked over to check on Olive. She was fine so far, no one had died yet and she had gotten to see adorable dinosaurs. She was still holding Enoch’s hand, and seeing that made Jake consider if Enoch would let him hold his hand. Jake quickly pushed that thought aside as he had realized early on when knowing Enoch that Enoch was the type of person you ask before touching. For some reason Olive had unlimited access to Enoch, she was able to hug him, hold his hand, put her arm around his shoulders and anything else she wanted without asking, and Jake didn’t know what made her so special. He knew that she was very special to Enoch, which was why he had thought they were dating, until Emma had stated that she thought Enoch might be gay, but Jake didn’t know what made Olive so special over the others. Perhaps it was because she made an effort with Enoch when no one else did? Perhaps Enoch had told Olive that she was allowed to touch him whenever she wanted, and that’s why she never asked? Jake wanted to hold Enoch’s hand, but he wasn’t going to ask, he didn’t want to get rejected and he didn’t want Enoch to think that he was making an advancement on him right after being broken up with by Enoch’s sister. Jake justified it in his head as simply wanting the comfort of another human being, but it wasn’t just any human being, he wanted the comfort that Enoch, specifically, brought him. 

The killing had started and Enoch was visibly excited. He sat surprisingly still, but his face had a large psychopathic smile plastered on it. Olive was horrified and was now holding Enoch’s hand up to her heart, hugging it for dear life with both hands. Jake was enjoying the movie too. He had seen the movie countless times as a kid with Abe or his dad and had a large amount of nostalgia for it. 

Jake felt something nudge his hand for a moment, but it went away as quickly as it arrived, so he ignored it. After a moment of nothing he could feel a finger loop around his ring finger and tug slightly. Jake looked down and Enoch was trying to drag Jake’s arm closer to him. When Enoch noticed that he got Jake’s attention, he wrapped more of his fingers through Jake’s and pulled his arm toward himself gently, making Jake slowly lean toward Enoch. Once Jake was far enough over so that Enoch could subtly lean in without disturbing Olive, he whispered to Jake.

“Should I take Olive out?” He asked. Jake looked over at Olive who still had a horrified look on her face. He thought that she probably would do better outside, but Jake had just been broken up with, he chose to be selfish and keep Enoch there with him.

“No, I think she’s fine.” Jake said. Enoch leaned back in his seat again, fully trusting Jake’s judgement for once. Jake thought that they had come a very long way if Enoch was willing to trust Jake’s opinion about Olive’s well-being.

Jake noticed after a moment that Enoch hadn’t removed his fingers that were intertangling with Jake’s. Jake smiled to himself slightly, but was suddenly hit with a wave of guilt after he did. He shouldn’t be selfish, he should prioritize Olive’s mental well-being over his crush. Jake lightly pulled on Enoch’s hand, getting the boy’s attention. Enoch leaned in toward Jake slightly, as slightly as he could without Olive violently tugging his arm back to her chest.

“You should ask Olive if she needs to leave.” He whispered in Enoch’s ear. Enoch nodded in response and leaned over toward Olive.

“Do you want me to take you outside?” He asked.

“No!” Olive rapidly responded, she still had Enoch’s hand clutched in her hands tightly. She was intently watching. She seemed horrified, but she must have been enjoying the new experience more. 

Jake watched Enoch lean back in his seat and assumed that meant they were staying. He noticed that Enoch still hadn’t removed his hand from Jake’s.

Enoch’s grip was light, barely noticeable. He wanted to be able to pull his hand away at any moment if need be. He wasn’t sure if Jake had noticed he was still there, and he didn’t want to make it apparent if he hadn’t.

When the movie finished, Jake started to stand up, but Enoch and Olive were still plastered to their seats watching the screen in amazement. Jake smiled.

“Guys, it’s time to go.” He informed them. They both slowly turned their heads toward Jake, tearing their eyes away from the screen. Jake repeated himself, realizing they probably weren’t listening. “Time to go.”

Enoch was the first to stand up, dragging Olive up with him as she still clung to his hand. “Did you like the movie?” Jake asked them. 

“Yes.” Enoch responded. One-word answers were often what Jake received from him.

“It was so much better than I ever imagined! And so much more terrifying!” Olive responded.

“My arm’s numb though.” Enoch complained.

They made their way to the exterior of the building again. Standing on the street in front of the theater. “Do you feel better?” Enoch asked Jake. Enoch didn’t really understand the point of tonight, he knew that he and Olive were trying to make Jake feel better, but he didn’t understand that Jake wasn’t going to be completely fine after one night.

“Yeah, I feel a lot better. Thanks guys.” Jake said. Jake would have liked to show Emma the movie, or any movie for that matter, but he supposed she would have just been thinking about Abe the entire time. Wishing he was his grandfather.

“Why do you still look sad?” Enoch asked, looking at Jake’s face closely and carefully. “You said you were better.”

“I do feel better, but I’m still sad. I would’ve liked to bring Emma here. This would’ve been a cool date.” Jake said. 

“So…You’re not better?” Enoch asked, but it sounded more like a statement. 

“No. Enoch, it’s not going to get better in one night. He’s going to be in pain for a while.” Olive explained. 

“Then what was the point of tonight?” Enoch asked genuinely.

“To make him feel better, but not completely better. He needs the support of his friends, he needed to do something with us to help him with the initial hit of emotions, but it’s going to take time to process, weeks, maybe even months since he lives with her.” Olive said. Enoch looked confused, but he accepted this answer. Jake could see him going over everything Olive had just said again in his mind, dissecting it, trying to pull out parts that made sense.

“So…tonight is to stop him from doing something stupid?” Enoch asked. “Cause, why not just feel it all in one night and get it over with?” 

“Because those feelings don’t go away. They aren’t a finite thing, Enoch. He doesn’t have a certain amount of feelings on this that will just disappear when he feels them all. Remember how you were jealous that everyone was having an easier time making friends with Jake? You know how you would feel the emotions intensely right in that moment, but then every time something would remind you of it, those feelings would come up again?” Olive tried using an example of his own emotions to help him better understand. 

Jake stood there between them feeling awkward as they talked about him like he wasn’t there.

“Oh.” Enoch said, understanding what she was saying. “So…things are reminding you of Emma and we need to do something that won’t remind you of her so that you’ll stop being sad?” Enoch asked. “Because you’re a lot to handle when you’re sad.”

“Enoch! That sounded rude.” Olive informed him. “You really aren’t a lot to handle, Jake. You’ve been incredibly upbeat and normal, actually.” She stated. “You’re not a burden or anything like that, don’t listen to Enoch.”

“Don’t worry, I’m used to ignoring his mean comments.” Jake said.

“That wasn’t mean.” Enoch said. “It’s just the truth.”

“It’s not the truth, Enoch. But the truth can still be mean.” Olive scolded. Enoch wasn’t going to apologize. He didn’t see the need to as he felt like he hadn’t said or done anything wrong. It took a lot for Enoch to apologize and it often sent him into a state of panic, so he would never apologize for something unless he truly felt like he had messed up. 

“What do we do next? What do you want?” Enoch asked Jake, that was the closest he was going to get to an apology and understanding. Jake was about to suggest they go home when he noticed Enoch’s attention drift to a group of people. Jake followed his gaze. He couldn’t place the look on Enoch’s face, was it disgust? Shock? Horror? Anxiety? Fascination? When he saw the people Enoch was staring at, it hit him. It had to be shock. Enoch was looking at a group of Punk people, they looked to be in their early twenties. 

“Oh. You probably aren’t ready for that, are you?” Jake wondered out loud. “We should probably go before something else scares you guys.”

Olive darted over to whisper in Jake’s ear. “No. He’s not freaked out. I think…I think this is admiration?” She said. “I think he likes them.”

“The green mohawks and everything?” Jake asked, Judgement in his voice. He knew that Olive didn’t know what a mohawk was. Jake looked to Enoch, then back at the group, then back to Enoch again, thinking. Enoch did seem like the type to be drawn to that look. He had the personality for it, not that fashion styles necessarily had personality types, but there were stereotypes associated with different subgroups. “Do you like the punk look?” Jake asked Enoch.

“I don’t know what that is.” Enoch said, glancing at Jake for a moment before returning his gaze back to the group. The people were smoking and loudly talking, their leather jackets with studs and spikes intriguing Enoch. Jake got an idea. 

“Come on.” Jake said, motioning for Enoch to follow him. Enoch reluctantly followed Jake over as he started walking toward the group.

“Hey, guys. Excuse me.” Jake started, grabbing the attention of the members. 

“What’s up?” The man with the green mohawk asked. He seemed pretty friendly at this point so Jake decided he’d continue with this experiment.

“This is my friends first time out with no parental supervision. It’s like his only night to explore himself. Do you guys know where we can find the stuff to copy your look? He’s really in awe of you guys and I think he needs to explore a bit.” Jake explained as if Enoch couldn’t speak for himself, although, to be fair, Enoch couldn’t speak at that moment, he was too distracted by the dramatic makeup and loud clothing. 

“Hey! Good for you, man! You gotta explore yourself!” The guy said.

“I had overbearing parents too, you’ve gotta rebel a little to really figure yourself out.” A woman with pink hair said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out an eyeliner. “Here.” She said, handing it to Jake. “Take that.”

“Wow. Thank you!” Jake said, completely surprised. 

“Do you guys have any money with you?” A man in a studded leather jacket asked. Jake shook his head. They didn’t have money on them, but he was worried that if he said ‘yes’ the man would ask for it. “You guys sneak out?” He asked with a quirk of his eyebrow. 

“Something like that.” Jake said. He looked back at Enoch who was just observing the whole conversation. He had Olive hanging on his arm. She was interested in the alarming look. Being Peculiars they had their fair share of non-conformity when it came to clothing.

“Woah! Nice gloves!” A woman in the back of the group piped up to compliment Olive.

“Thank you! I wear them every day.” Olive responded, flattered. No one had really complimented her gloves before. Olive was often self-conscious about them, she didn’t think of them as a fashion statement but as a necessary garment that restricted her fashion choices. 

“I’ve got some gloves like that at home, but they’ve got windows and are fingerless.” The woman said, trying to relate.

“Hey, you know what. You kids are pretty cool.” The man in the leather jacket said. “I remember when I first tried out the look. It was like I was made whole. Like I had figured out who I truly am, like I could show my inner-self to the outside world.” The guy said. There was a choir of agreement from the crowd. He took off his jacket and handed it to Jake. “Take that. I can get another one. Sounds like you guys won’t be able to. Make sure to hide it from your parents if they aren’t gonna like it, though. My dad burnt my first pair of boots because he said they were made by the devil and that I was being compelled by him. You know what, so what if I am? I’m still a better human than half my dad’s church.” 

Jake handed the eyeliner and jacket over to Enoch, who smiled slightly at receiving them. 

“You kids wanna hang with us for while? We can show you how to wear the garb.” The mohawk man offered.

“Yeah, we can stay for a while.” Jake said, looking back at Olive and Enoch for reassurance. Olive emphatically nodded her head, yes. Enoch’s smile grew the tiniest amount.

“He’s shy around new people.” Olive explained to the group. 

“That’s true, he wouldn’t speak directly to me for the first few hours I was in his house.” Jake stated.

“Do you want me to put the eyeliner on you?” The girl with the pink hair asked Enoch. Enoch just nodded in response. The woman walked up to him and held out her hand for the eyeliner, which he immediately gave up. Olive slipped her hand down from Enoch’s arm into his hand so that she could stand behind him, giving the woman room to work.

“Are you guys from around here?” Green mohawk asked Jake.

“No. We’re moving around a lot currently. We lost our home recently, so, we’ve been looking for a new place.” Jake answered.

“You guys related?” 

“No, not biologically. We’re in foster care together.” Jake explained in the most mundane way he could.

Enoch eyed the man talking to Jake. He felt responsible for his and Olive’s safety while they were out. Enoch was slightly jealous of Jake, he was able to talk to this man so easily. Enoch didn’t know any of these people, but he somehow already idolized them. They seemed so free and open, they knew who they were and what they wanted, and they were able to express that in any way they wished. The woman applying Enoch’s eyeliner finished with the makeup, stepping back to look at the finished product.

“Does it show the darkness within?” Enoch asked. It was the first words he had spoken to them.

“Wow! The darkness within! Do you guys hear this kid! I like you!” The woman exclaimed, earning a small, shy smile from Enoch. He felt accepted here, he felt like he had just been shown an entirely new world. Enoch had never realized that clothing could be used to express someone’s identity, someone’s inner-self. Enoch had never truly resonated with clothing until today. He felt like he understood Horace a little better now.

Enoch knew that he only knew these people on a very surface level, and they would never see each other again after that night, but he knew that his experience here, with these people, would stick with him for the rest of his life. 

“Put the jacket on.” Olive told Enoch. He complied, pulling the Jacket on over his sweater. 

“Nah! That won’t do!” The man with the green mohawk said. “We’ve gotta get you new pants and a different shirt.” The guy told Enoch. He thought for a moment, debating something in his head. The man reached into his pocket and handed Enoch money. “There’s a thrift shop two buildings down, look for something like that.” The man pointed to his friend’s pants, they were yellow and blue plaid with chains. “You should be able to find a shirt, pants and boots with that.” He paused, looking at his friend. “Give him your chains.” He demanded and the other man complied with his friend’s orders.

“Alright, but, _you’re_ paying me back.” The guy said to the man with the green mohawk, handing his chains over to Enoch.

Enoch, Jake, and Olive said their goodbyes as they rushed to the thrift store. They were running out of time and needed to hurry. They found the shop and went in. Jake and Olive let Enoch go ahead to search for things, while they hung back and browsed. 

“Jake.” Olive said quietly. “Thank you.” She paused. “I know this was supposed to be your night to get over Emma, but, you really made Enoch happy. I haven’t seen him this happy since Abe left…since Victor…” Olive trailed off.

“Please don’t tell me Enoch had a crush on my grandfather too!? I don’t think I could handle it if both my girlfriend _and_ her brother had the hots for my grandfather.” Jake Joked. Olive giggled at this.

“No. Don’t worry. It’s just that…we lost Abe…and then we lost Victor. Enoch used to feel like a whole person, but… after victor and Abe, he lost a part of himself. He’s always had his issues, and he’s always been strange and stand-offish. I think there’s always been a part of him that was detached, living around so much death and all. But…you brought back the old Enoch tonight, and I can’t wait for you to properly meet him when he’s no longer shut down from all of these people.” Olive said.

“I’ve been meaning to ask about his peculiarity.” Jake whispered. “How did he learn about it? Was he randomly dissecting people’s bodies for no reason?” Jake asked. This sentence turned the few other heads that were in the shop toward the conversation. “Never mind. We can talk about it some other time.” Jake said.

Enoch returned to Olive and Jake with a pair of red plaid pants, a ripped white t-shirt and black combat boots in his arms.

“Let’s pay for it and you can change in the changing room.” Olive said. Enoch was about to protest that he could just put it on when they got back to the ship, but Olive gave him a stern look, shutting that thought down. She wanted to see him in his new clothes as soon as possible. Enoch had never looked comfortable in the clothes he wore, and she wanted to see how much that changed. 

Enoch complied silently, paying for the clothes and heading for the changing rooms. Jake and Olive were excitedly waiting when he came out. 

“How do you feel?” Jake asked. Seeing Enoch all decked out in what honestly was the most fitting style he thought he would ever see Enoch wear.

“I feel like death.” Enoch said. “So, good.” He clarified. Olive clapped her hands excitedly. 

“you look amazing. It really suits you.” Jake said, looking Enoch up and down for a moment. “We have to head back before Miss Peregrine sends Horace after us…or we disintegrate or something else terrible.” Jake warned. Olive took Enoch by the arm following Jake out of the store.

~

The three peculiars made their way back to the loop and back to the ghost ship. Jake and Olive made sure no one was on the deck when they snuck Enoch down to his cabin. When Enoch opened the door to his room he saw Emma waiting there for him. Jake froze for a moment, then he quietly backed away to let Enoch deal with it. Olive followed Jake to make sure he was okay. She figured if Emma was in Enoch’s room, she must be waiting for _him_ specifically.

“Emma?” Enoch asked. She turned around to face him. 

“Enoch.” Emma said softly. Her facial expression turned to that of confusion at his new aesthetic. “What are you wearing?” She sounded baffled, but then quickly spoke before he could respond. “You know what. I don’t want to know.” She said.

“What are you doing here?” Enoch asked. He was really trying to say ‘how can I help’ but didn’t find the right words.

“I went looking for Olive, and when I didn’t find her I went looking for you. When I didn’t find you, I figured I would wait in your room and whenever you and Olive were done with wherever you were, you would both come back here.” Emma answered.

“Oh. I’ll go get Olive then.” Enoch said, turning to leave the room.

“Wait.” Emma said. Enoch turned around slowly with a question written on his face. “I think I waited here because I really needed you.” Emma continued. “I need someone who will give it to me straight, who won’t sugar coat it for me.” She stated.

“Okay.” Enoch sat down on his bed, still looking at Emma. Enoch was very good at staring people down, and he was decent at making eye contact when he wasn’t the one experiencing uncomfortable emotions. “What’s going on?” He asked. “Is it about Jake?” He suspected it was about Jake _and_ Abe.

“Yes.” Emma sat next to Enoch. She pulled her blue dress under her as she sat. “Am I a terrible person?” She asked. “Did I lead him on? Was I selfish?” Emma felt inside her heart, even if others didn’t feel the same, that she was. 

Enoch sat there and thought for a moment, truly contemplating this to give her a truthful answer. After all, she did ask for it straight. “Did you love him when you were with him?” Enoch asked.

“I thought I did. But, it turns out I was just in love with Abe, with the idea of Jake being Abe.” Emma said. Enoch thought for another moment. Emma sat with her hands fidgeting together in her lap.

“How long after you realized did you tell him?” Enoch asked.

“Immediately.” Emma said. “Well…The second I knew it was true.” She clarified. “I had been questioning for a few days before, but, I didn’t say anything until I was positive my terrible suspicion was right.” She said.

“You’re not a bad person. You’re actually a good person.” Enoch said. The world was often very black and white for him, there wasn’t much of a grey area that he was able to view in things. “He’ll get over it, eventually.” Enoch said. 

After handling Jake, Enoch now had a precedent for breakups. Enoch held his arms out slightly to invite Emma for a hug. Emma looked over to him, her face lightening.

“Are you…offering me a hug?” She asked. 

“Yes.” Enoch answered. He was uncomfortable that she hadn’t taken the offer yet. He felt kind of awkward at this point since it wasn’t an immediate reaction on her part.

Emma gave him a questioning look. “Are you sure?” She asked.

“You need a hug, yes?” Enoch asked.

“I’d like one.” Emma stated.

“Okay, then come here.” Enoch said. He was getting impatient. He didn’t like offering things, especially if people didn’t take him up on it.

Emma scooched closer to him and wrapped her arms under his, putting her chin on his shoulder. “Thank you, Enoch.” She said. 

Emma knew that Enoch didn’t think she was a bad person, she knew that _Jake_ didn’t think she was a bad person, but it didn’t stop her from feeling guilty for not recognizing her misplaced emotions sooner, and for putting him through the emotional rollercoaster she must have just put him through.

Enoch never knew when to let go, so he always let the other person dictate when they wanted to. However, this left him feeling awkward, as he would have liked the hug to have ended long before the other person actually pulled away. 

~

“Jake, how was your night? Are you feeling better?” Miss Peregrine asked Jake as she ran into him in the dining area. Jake froze, did she know Enoch’s illness was faked?

“Much better! And Enoch is doing well too! He didn’t have appendicitis. The doctors were very relieved.” Jake badly lied. Miss Peregrine looked at him with a knowing look.

“I heard about the breakup, Jake. I hope you’re doing alright?” Miss Peregrine asked.

“Yeah. I’m doing alright. I could be better, but I’ll be normal again soon, I promise.” Jake said.

“Well, If you ever need to talk, I’m here.” Miss Peregrine told him.

Olive stood awkwardly in the corner of the room waiting for the interaction to end. It was a very uncomfortable interaction to watch.

“Thank you, Miss Peregrine.” Jake answered the woman. Miss Peregrine left the room to go to her cabin and sleep for the night. They had kept the boat docked for the night so that everyone could get a good night’s sleep.

“Jake?” Olive asked. “How are you doing? Truly, I mean. You haven’t really talked about your feelings on the breakup much.” Olive encouraged.

“I...” Jake said. “I don’t really know my feelings on it. I thought we were in love. I thought I loved her. I thought she loved _me_! I’m having trouble wrapping my head around the idea that what we had wasn’t real. But…now she has me thinking about if my feelings were even real. Did I only have feelings for her because I grew up on stories about how lovely she is? I mean, she really is lovely, she’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, but…did I only like her because she made me feel closer to my grandfather? Did She remind me of a time when he would tell me stories about the beautiful floating girl?” Jake questioned out-loud.

Olive stood there, there wasn’t much she could say, but she could offer emotional support by just being there with him and empathizing.

“I was excited around her, I was giddy, even. I thought that what I felt was attraction. I thought it was a crush, but maybe it was idealization? Maybe I was just excited to be in the house my grandfather grew up in, the house he constantly gushed about. A place I finally felt like I belonged? Did I think I had a crush on Emma when I really had a crush on this place? On this family?” Jake quickly clarified. “Not in like a creepy way, I mean platonically!” 

“I know what you mean. Trust me, you’re a lot less awkward than Enoch when discussing your feelings.” Olive assured.

“Enoch’s different, isn’t he?” Jake asked, his mind wandering to the subject of Enoch. “I don’t mean that in a mean way, I just mean his brain works differently than ours, doesn’t it?” He asked.

“Yes.” Olive said. “He’s always been different, but, when you really get to know him, you stop noticing. It’s so ingrained in who he is, it’s hard to think of him in comparison to anyone else, he’s too unique, he’s just…Enoch.” Olive said. 

Jake looked down at the floor. He was going to ask a question he had been wanting to for a while, but he didn’t want to look at Olive when he asked it. “I got Emma’s opinion on this, but I’ve been wondering yours since you know Enoch the best.” Jake questioned.

“Yes?” Olive encouraged.

“Why did Enoch hate me? He does like me now, right? We’re all good? Why was he so avidly against me? Is Enoch gay?” Apparently, all of the questions Jake had been holding in about Enoch were coming out in this moment. Olive looked uncomfortable as she tried to remember all of the questions while she thought of the answers.

“He’s not gay. He’s one of the most depressed, insecure people I’ve ever met.” She started with. Jake decided to leave it alone this time, he had immediately regretted asking the question the second it slipped from his mouth, and Olive just gave him an easy out, even if unintentionally. “Enoch’s a lot more comfortable around you now. I think you’re officially a part of the family now. Maybe tomorrow you’ll get to experience the real Enoch, you got to see a little bit of him tonight, but he was still holding back. Enoch has a lot of barriers up for people to have to work through, and often times, if you break one wall, he’ll build another one in a different area. Enoch’s trust is really hard to gain, but you’re definitely getting there.” Olive said. “When it comes to Enoch, you have to play the long game. I wish I could say it was worth it, but I don’t know if it is for everyone. Enoch is a unique kind of special and he’s not for everyone. Abe never understood him. Enoch looked up to Abe, but Abe didn’t understand Enoch, there was a distance between them that Abe created. Enoch admired his ability to make friends with anyone. He admired how easily socializing came to him, but then Abe blocked him out, so he turned bitter, he felt betrayed. Abe leaving was the final straw.” Olive moved to sit in a chair. This was going to take a while.

“So, Enoch hated me because I reminded him of Abe?” Jake asked.

“No and yes. Not entirely, I’d say. Actually, Enoch doesn’t think you look that much like Abe. I disagree, you look a lot like him, but Enoch doesn’t see it. There’s a part of him that retained his barriers from Abe, and just never let them go. You just happened to be the only new person he met after Abe left. Part of it is your relation to Abe, and a huge part was your relationship with Emma. Your relationship with Emma reminded him of Abe, it brought up old feelings. Enoch used to be fine with Emma and Abe, until Abe left her heartbroken. Enoch never forgave him, because he left all of us heartbroken.” Olive explained further. “Another huge thing for Enoch is that he’s easily jealous. Enoch is jealous of people who can do the things he wants to do, but hasn’t been able to figure out no matter how hard he tries. Being good with people and making friends is one of these issues. He hates feeling out of control of situations and himself, but when things start to feel out of control, like things are changing, like a new person coming into the house after 70 years of nothing, he panics, he doesn’t know what to do and he freaks out. But when he freaks out, he feels out of control of himself, this leads him to lash out more.” Olive shifted in her seat to look at Jake better.

“It’s like that cycle that Emma was talking about. Fight or flight triggering a panic response that then triggers feelings of guilt that make him lash out again just like his initial panic response.” Jake added.

“Yes. I do want to state that Enoch was very upfront about his main reason for wanting you gone and treating you so horribly.” Olive said. “He really was worried that you would leave. He was worried that we would get attached and you would leave and we would be just as broken as we all were after Abe.” Olive said. “All of my reasons are just backstory, the reason that Enoch gave you is the body.” Jake appreciated her book metaphor.

Jake felt able to ask his first question again. He felt awkward asking, but he was extremely curious and a small part of him was nervous. He was nervous that the answer would be ‘no’. Jake knew that there was no genuine reason he needed to know this, but he wanted to know if he had a chance with the necromancer sometime in the future.

“There’s one more thing Emma said. I got curious. And please don’t blame Emma for this one, this was my grandfathers doing.” Jake said, laying the groundwork. He was surprised at how easy saying Emma’s name was when in the context of his grandfather. The fact that he was feeling so okay with the situation made him question further, were his feelings for Emma just a big illusion? 

“What is it?” Olive asked curiously. She truly had no idea of Abe’s suspicions. Abe had been Olive’s friend, but he was always closest with Emma, they were the two who shared inside jokes, the ones that relied on each other. Olive had latched onto Enoch because Emma and Abe, the only others around her age, were often going off and doing things together, ignoring the rest of the house.

“Is Enoch homosexual?” Jake asked. Olive was shocked that this was Jake’s question. Why did he want to know? Why did he care to know right now? Didn’t he have more important things to worry about? Did Enoch say something to him that made him suspicious earlier? Olive didn’t want to say anything to Jake that wasn’t her thing to say, but she didn’t really know how to not tell him without inadvertently telling him. 

“I-uh…” She stammered, not sure how to react. Was being Homosexual seen as okay in Jake’s time? Olive knew everyone’s stance on homosexuality here, except Jake. The peculiars had seen enough things in their lives, they had been persecuted enough to not think anything of loving someone of the same sex. They had heard about peculiars from other loops that didn’t identify with either sex, or the opposite sex they were born. There really wasn’t much that could make a peculiar cringe, but Jake wasn’t from their world, he hadn’t experienced the things they had experienced, Olive had no way of knowing where he stood.

“I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have asked. It’s not something I have any right to know.” Jake said, stumbling to take his question back. “I just-I thought it might explain some of his anger and fear.” Jake said. “You know…living in your time was pretty tough for homosexuals. With Hitler and everything. I think in America right now, it’s actually illegal to be gay.” Jake said. He had been trying to use the words that the others knew, but sometimes he’d slip back to his natural word choice. Most of the peculiars ignored him when he said future slang, or they would gather from context, but Jake still tried his best.

“Are…are things better in your time?” Olive asked. Enoch had never told her his preferences, but he didn’t have to. She could see the way he looked at Jake, she had seen the way he looked at some of the boys on the island the few times she had convinced him to leave the house. 

“So much better!” Jake said. “I can’t say there aren’t still problems with so many issues, but compared to this time, my time is a safe haven for Women, LGBTQ people, and people of color.” Jake said. He then realized he needed to clarify when he saw Olive’s face. “LGBTQ means lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. Basically anyone who isn’t heterosexual or cisgender, someone who likes the opposite sex, or anyone who identifies with their birth sex.” Jake said. He hoped that was enough clarification. Jake knew he would probably need to explain it to her in depth again at some point, but for now she seemed to accept this answer. 

“Tell me about it? The ways that the future is better.” Olive was worried for Enoch, she feared that he would leave the group one day, even for an hour or so, and something bad would happen to him. 

“In the context of gay people?” Jake asked, assuming that’s what she was asking. Olive nodded. “Well, in America and most of Europe, excluding places like Russia, being gay isn’t illegal anymore.” Jake figured that Olive had picked up on the word gay at this point. “last year they gained the right to marry each other in the US. And their marriages have to be recognized by every state.” Jake couldn’t bring himself to say “we” and “our” yet. He had just discovered his bisexuality or pansexuality, he really didn’t know yet, he had just realized his attraction to men, he didn’t feel particularly attached to the community yet. He didn’t feel like it was a part of himself yet, as he had just discovered it. 

“Wow.” Olive said in awe. “And they aren’t killed anymore?” She asked.

“Not legally in America and most of Europe, still excluding places like Russia. There are still hate crimes though.” Jake said. Most everything Jake knew about the community he had learned in 2015. “Are you gay?” Jake asked Olive. He was curious as to why she was so interested on this topic.

“No-well…I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it. I don’t think I am, but then again, I’ve never really been interested in anyone before.” Olive said.

“That’s okay. You don’t need to know. And you don’t need to ever be interested in anyone.” Jake assured.

“I suppose you’re right, since I’m stuck with the same people for all of eternity.” Olive said. Jake hadn’t thought about that before. All of them were trapped, condemned to never find romantic love outside of the few people they knew, and most of them were children or considered themselves family like Olive and Enoch.

“I guess there’s no point in trying to figure it out if you’ll never get the chance to meet someone.” Jake said. Olive nodded sadly.

“It’s not too late Jake. If you don’t want to live the rest of your life alone, you still have the ability to leave.” Olive said. She didn’t want him to go, it was nice having another friend her age, but she also cared about him and wanted what was best for him. Olive would have felt guilty if she hadn’t reminded him that it was still an option.

“I’m not going to leave.” Jake said. “I didn’t stay because of Emma. That would have been an unhealthy attachment if I had.” Jake stated. “I came back for everyone. You’re _all_ my family now. I couldn’t leave you to fend for yourselves when you can’t see the Hollows. This is the first place where I feel like I belong.” Jake explained. “Besides, Enoch would find a way to the future just to murder me if I left now.” Jake joked. 

“That’s true. He has gotten attached.” Olive stated, she smiled slightly thinking about it. This was everything she had wanted when Jake first arrived, a permanent new friend that got along with everyone she cared about, including Enoch, the most unapproachable person she had ever met. Olive noticed Jake blushing at her words. Was Jake…? Holy shit! Everything made sense now. Jake’s questions about Enoch, holding Enoch’s hand in the movie theater, yes, Olive had spotted that. “Something tells me you aren’t going to have much of a problem finding someone else after you heal from Emma.” Olive said. She was so excited for her brother. Olive had noticed how much Jake affected Enoch emotionally and she was happy that there was a chance of mutual attraction.

~

Olive found Emma in her room when she finally headed back, to sleep. “Emma?” Olive said surprised. 

“I know it’s late, I’m sorry for intruding, but Enoch had exhausted everything I think he was capable of, I’m guessing he had a long night tonight.” Emma said. “I don’t need much, I just don’t want to be alone tonight. Is it alright if I sleep in here with you?” Emma asked.

“Of course!” Olive had often been Emma’s roommate after Abe had left. On the nights Emma wasn’t sleeping in Abe’s room, Emma would have Bronwyn drag her bed into Olive’s room and they would sleep with the beds pushed next to each other. Since this was a boat, the beds were attached to the walls and there was no way to move them, so Olive and Emma would just share a cot tonight. They were small beds, but they didn’t mind cuddling. 

“Thank you.” Emma said as she hesitantly walked toward the bed. “Do you want the inside or outside of the bed?” She asked.

“I’ll take the inside, you tend to wake before me.” Olive said, which was true, Emma was an early riser, no matter how late she went to bed. Olive changed into her night clothes and crawled into bed, Emma following behind her.

“Do you think I’ll ever get over Abe?” Emma asked once they were laying in bed next to one another. Olive rolled over onto her side to look at Emma.

“I don’t know. If you do, it will take time. Now that we aren’t living in the same house with the same people-well, we’re still with the same people, but now that our lives aren’t exactly the same as the day he left, you may start to move on. Up until this point, there was no room for change or growth, everything you did and saw reminded you of him. If you’re going to get over him, it should happen soon.” Olive said. Emma hated the uncertainty, and she hated what she had done to Jake even more. She was ashamed that she hadn’t recognized her false emotions sooner. She was ashamed that she couldn’t see Jake as his own person, and could only see him as an extension of the man she had once loved. 

“I love you Ol. Thank you for being here for me through all of this again.” Emma said, smiling a bittersweet smile.

“I love you too Emm. Tomorrow’s a new day, who knows, maybe Jake will have moved on?” Olive said. Emma caught the hint of Olive not telling her something.

“Do you have a piece of information that you’re not telling me?” Emma asked the girl next to her.

“Sort of?” Olive said. “I can’t say too much, it wouldn’t be my place, but I don’t think you should feel too bad, Jake is questioning if his feelings were even real. Perhaps they weren’t? Maybe you were both caught up in an illusion?” Olive suggested.

“Wouldn’t that be nice. So I wouldn’t have to feel so guilty for hurting him.” Emma said. “I hope you’re right.” She whispered, starting to fall asleep.

~

Emma woke up early the next morning, she helped Miss Peregrine around the ship with chores and daily activities. They hadn’t undocked yet, as they needed more people awake to manage the ship. 

“Coming through!” Emma was pushed out of the way by an invisible force. 

“Millard! It’s chilly! Put some clothes on before you catch a cold!” Emma scolded. Enoch walked up the stairs onto the deck tiredly. He was back in his regular clothing, he didn’t want the rest of the kids mocking his future clothes or asking questions about where he had gotten them. There was one thing he did keep on however, and that was the eyeliner. It was subtle, but Emma could see it was there, she figured the younger kids wouldn’t notice however, aside from Horace of course. 

“Good morning, Enoch.” Emma said chipperly. She still didn’t feel great, she still felt guilty and awkward, but she wasn’t going to let it show. Enoch made a noise that definitely wasn’t a word, but it was a greeting. He yawned and trudged over to Claire, where he put his hand on top of her head as a hello. Claire hated when he did this, she said it messed up her hair. Enoch wasn’t particularly verbal in the early morning, however, by the time breakfast was over he would normally become his regular self. 

“Enoch, would you mind heading down to the kitchens to fetch Hugh? I don’t want him getting any bees in the food.” Miss Peregrine asked. Enoch nodded and slowly went down the stairs. 

Jake came up on deck finally. Emma tensed when she saw him. She wasn’t exactly sure how to interact with him. She didn’t know if he was mad at her or even if he could bare to look at her. What if she had disgusted him with her actions and he’d never be able to talk to her again? Then she would be living with a person who despised her, and she wouldn’t be able to blame him. Much to Emma’s surprise Jake gave her a shy wave and a sideways smile. She reciprocated with a small wave back to him and a quiet “Hi.”

Jake saw something move on the lower deck from the corner of his eye. It quickly moved to where he couldn’t see. The railing was blocking his vision. Emma noticed the change in Jake’s face as he stared intently at the lower deck. “Is everything okay, Jake?” Emma asked concerned. Jake stared for a moment longer, his face getting more and more suspicious. He slowly pointed behind him, not taking his eyes off of the spot where he had seen the motion. Jake had a bad feeling in his gut.

“Get back there.” He said slowly and calmly. “Stand with your back to the wall.” He informed. 

“Jake, what’s wrong?” Emma asked. She complied with his orders, concerned. 

“I don’t know. I just thought I saw something.” Jake was still staring at that spot. 

Enoch opened the door to the deck, walking onto the deck with Hugh. He stood next to Emma waiting for Miss Peregrine to return. “What’s Jake doing?” He asked the blonde next to him. 

“He thought he saw something.” Emma said. Enoch tensed at this. He trusted Jake, and if Jake sensed something as off, Enoch was going to take it seriously, ever since his encounter with the Hollows.

“Claire! Bronwyn! Get up here!” Enoch shouted. “Now!” He sounded upset, but Emma knew it was just concern for their safety. The two little girls ran up the stairs to the upper deck and stood in front of Enoch.

“What?” Claire asked.

“Jake thought he saw something. We’re going to stay up here with him until he gives us the all-clear.” Enoch explained. He could see the little girls faces deflate. They had been playing a game on the lower deck and didn’t want to stop their fun. Enoch held out his hand for Claire to take. She liked holding his hand when she was upset. Claire grabbed it and stood next to him. 

Jake moved to the side of the railing where he had seen the movement dart to. Jake was startled by the door to the deck swinging open once more and Horace running onto the deck in a panic. He was covered in sweat and was breathing heavily. He was still in silk pajamas and must have run all the way from his room.

Jake saw a tentacle reach for Bronwyn from above right as Horace pulled the little girl out of the way. “Hollow!” Jake yelled as he stared at the towering figure above Emma, Enoch, Claire, and Hugh. “Downstairs!” He shouted, motioning to the lower deck.

Enoch picked Clair up and Emma grabbed Hugh’s hand, pulling him with her as she ran. 

“Does anyone know where Millard is?” Emma asked concerned. She was worried that he had been wandering around without clothes, although, she supposed that was the only thing keeping him safe. 

“He passed me earlier grumbling about putting clothes on. He’s probably in his room changing.” Enoch said. They all stood on the lower deck now, staring up at the Hollow. It was unsettling to be dealing with a creature that Enoch couldn’t see that was trying to kill him. He could feel himself starting to panic. Enoch had to remind himself that they had Jake and knew where the Hollow was, but that didn’t stop the anxiety from kicking in.

Jake noticed Miss Peregrine flying above the ship in bird form. “Miss Peregrine!” He shouted. “Hollow above the door to the inside!” He warned. Miss Peregrine circled around the boat and landed next to them, transforming before she even hit the ground. 

“Can you draw him away?” She asked. Enoch’s face hardened.

“I can.” He said. Miss Peregrine nodded and transformed back into a bird, circling them from above, waiting for the Hollow to move so that she could get to her crossbow and inform the other children to stay hidden.

“We could really use Olive’s fire right about now.” Jake said. Enoch bolted away from the group, Jake shot out his arm trying to grab Enoch to stop him, but he was too slow. “Enoch! No!”

“It’s part of the plan, Jake! Someone’s gotta do it!” Enoch called behind him. Jake stayed with the others. He contemplated going after Enoch, but decided it was safer to stay there with the group where he could see the Hollow and protect them from it. Enoch dashed for the cockpit where he had a small box of hearts and two skeletons stashed. 

“He knows what he’s doing…” Emma said. “I hope.” She finished. Emma grabbed Jake’s hand for comfort. It was a reflex at this point, something she didn’t think about, but it immediately made her heart sink when she realized. “Sorry.” She said recoiling her hand.

“It’s okay.” Jake said. “Maybe Claire could use some comfort?” He said. Jake hadn’t really minded, he had barely noticed as his mind was on Enoch’s safety and the safety of the group around him. Emma grabbed Claire’s hand, the one that wasn’t occupied in Bronwyn’s. “Why isn’t he moving?” Jake questioned. 

“He saw people exit the door under him. Perhaps he’s waiting for an easy, unsuspecting meal?” Horace hypothesized. 

“Enoch’s plan better work, and fast. We need to get the Hollow away from there before _it’s_ plan succeeds.” Jake said.

“Hey ugly!” Bronwyn shouted. She stuck out her tongue and waggled her hands next to her ears. 

“Bronwyn! No!” Jake said. The Hollow was staring at Bronwyn. He slowly started moving toward them, climbing off the door. The Hollow was a towering figure now that it wasn’t crouching. Jake saw Enoch running back to them in that moment. Thank goodness.

“Where is it?” Enoch asked hurriedly the second he was next to Jake. 

“There!” Jake pointed straight in front of them as the Hollow climbed down the banister and onto the lower deck.

“Hugh-“ Enoch said, but he didn’t need to finish his sentence, Hugh understood exactly what he needed to do. Suddenly a swarm of bees flew out of Hugh’s mouth, swarming the Hollow, revealing its location to Enoch.

Two skeletons came running out from the cockpit, wielding weapons in hand. One of the Skeletons ran straight into the Hollow, using its body as a distraction to get the creature’s attention away from the children. The other skeleton danced around the Hollow, dodging the outline of bees coming at it.

“Miss Peregrine! Now!” Jake shouted. The bird flew down to the upper deck and transformed into human form to enter below deck. She disappeared as the door swung shut behind her.

The hollow lifted one skeleton into the air and chucked it into the water like it was an annoying critter, bothering it. Enoch was now only working with one skeleton against a semi-invisible foe. The skeleton ran toward the other end of the ship, trying to put as much distance between the kids and the Hollow as possible. The Hollow fell for the trick and followed the creation to the other end of the ship. Olive burst through the door and entered the upper deck. 

“Where is it?” She asked. 

“Behind you on the lower deck!” Jake responded. Olive ran down the stairs to join them. 

“Hugh, Horace, get the kids below deck!” She commanded. “Find Millard, Fiona, and the twins and tell them to stay put!”

“This would be a good time to have the twins. They could turn it to stone.” Jake said. “Wait… _Can_ they turn it to stone?” This was a rhetorical question; Jake didn’t have time to contemplate the barriers of the twins abilities. 

Horace and Hugh took Bronwyn and Claire up the stairs and below deck, taking the bees along with them and any chance of Enoch, Emma, and Olive knowing the creature’s location without Jake. The Hollow caught up to the skeleton, which had been running back and forth across the opposite side of the deck. When the Hollow caught the thing, it ripped it in half and threw it back at Enoch. The kids all took a step back when they saw the bones flying toward them, but it hit the deck in front of them and slid to Enoch’s feet. Jake watched Enoch’s face go from scared to furious.

Enoch wasn’t mad, he wasn’t _actually_ mad, that is. Enoch turned his fear into anger whenever he felt threatened, the reason he often lashed out at others verbally. It was a coping mechanism that allowed him to deal with his problems, the only issue with his coping mechanism came up when he was dealing with other people. It was an amazing skill to have when he was battling literal monsters, but in his day-to-day life, when the only thing he was fighting was his feelings, his feelings toward situations and people, that’s when his ability became destructive and harmful to the people in his life.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Enoch. You can’t see it.” Jake said. Enoch wasn’t planning anything stupid, but if an opportunity arose, he was probably going to take it.

“Don’t worry, we’re not out of the running yet.” Enoch stated.

“What do you mean?” Jake asked. “Both your skeletons are gone. I’m the only one who can see this thing, and we have no weapons.” 

Enoch ripped the metal bar out of the skeleton in front of his feet’s hand. “We still have one left.” Enoch informed. “It’s just taking a while to get back.” 

“Wait, the skeleton in the ocean is still alive? How do you know? Can you feel it?” Jake asked. The Hollow was now slowly walking toward the group. It was taking its sweet time, for reasons Jake didn’t understand, but then again, from his experience with these things, they weren’t exactly fast.

“Yeah, it’s hard to explain. I know when they’re alive and I know when they’re listening to me.” There was a tingling in Enoch’s brain that he could feel when they were listening, and he could feel a faint miniature heartbeat within his own that beat 300 times faster.

“It’s coming toward us. What’s our plan?” Jake asked. He then realized all eyes were on him. Apparently, he was the plan guy. “Okay, never mind, we don’t have a plan then. Don’t die, that’s our plan I guess.” Jake said. There was no time for him to think of a plan, their only hope was that Miss Peregrine would return before the Hollow got to one of them.

Enoch tightened his grip on the metal bar in his hands. Olive took off her gloves. Emma watched Jake intently for cues on where the Hollow was.

The Hollow was within reach of the kids now, and Jake still had no plan. “Scatter!” He said, pointing to both his sides, informing them not to run straight ahead. A tentacle wrapped around Jake’s waist as he tried to dart to the side. “Olive!” He shouted, reaching his arm out to grab hers. She allowed him to grab her arm as the Hollow lifted him off the ground. Olive was the only thing keeping Jake in place. He was careful not to touch her hand, but he needed to find a way to guide her hand to the Hollow’s tentacle. 

Enoch ran to Jake and handed him the bar, which Jake took with his free hand. He tried to stab the tentacle with it while still holding Olive to keep himself close to the ground. Olive’s hand grazed the tentacle that was wrapped around Jake’s waist. It didn’t catch fire, but it burnt the Hollow enough to injure it, causing it to violently jerk backward, bringing Jake with it. Jake used both hands now to jab the hollow with the metal bar, this time he drew blood and a squeal. The Hollow retracted it’s tentacle and Jake dropped to the ground onto Enoch, who had been following under him in case Jake fell. Jake dropped into Enoch’s arms right as Miss Peregrine burst through the door to the deck, crossbow in hand. She pointed it at the air, looking to Jake for guidance.

The Hollow hadn’t noticed Miss Peregrine yet. It reached for Emma, grabbing one of her ankles and pulling her to the ground. Miss Peregrine pointed off to the side and high, hoping to hit its chest if not its head.

Jake hadn’t left Enoch’s grip yet, he was standing in front of the other boy, one hand on Enoch’s shoulder, the other on his hip trying to keep himself standing. Enoch had his arms on each of Jake’s shoulders, trying to steady him. Jake looked back at the Hollow to direct Miss Peregrine without leaving Enoch’s grasp. Enoch’s touch grounded him, kept him in the moment. The firm grip reassuring him he was fine. “A little to your left!” He shouted. Miss Peregrine complied, following his vague directions perfectly. “Right there!” Jake informed. Not a second later Miss Peregrine had shot the crossbow and the Hollow was falling to the ground screeching in pain. Soon it was motionless. It was dead.

Enoch couldn’t focus on anything other than Jake’s hands on him, his hands on Jake. So many questions were swirling around in his mind. Was Jake alright? Did he get hurt? When was he going to let go? Was he okay that Enoch was still touching him? Was it okay for Enoch to hug him? Would Jake be upset if Enoch hugged him? Had Enoch been staring too long? Was it getting weird? Was it weird that they were still touching? Did Jake notice the water in Enoch’s eyes? Enoch had been terrified. He was in panic mode and he hadn’t quite calmed down yet, his body hadn’t yet realized that he didn’t need to fight anymore. 

For Jake, physical touch was grounding, it kept him in reality and reassured him he was safe. For Enoch, it did the opposite. Physical touch was a source of anxiety for Enoch, it made him question everything and trapped him inside his head. Physical touch was something Enoch had to work very hard to do acceptably. He didn’t know the unspoken rules that everyone else seemed to understand. With hugs, he never knew when to let go, with handshakes, he never knew how hard to squeeze, if he should make eye-contact, or when he should let go. For Enoch, Physical touch was an all-encompassing thing. All of his senses were tapped into the sensation, whether good or bad.

“Are you okay?” Was the first thing to come out of Enoch’s mouth.

“Yeah. I’m okay.” Jake said, staring into Enoch’s dark eyes. He could see the concern written on his eyebrows. It made Jake’s heart melt that he had gotten to a place with Enoch where Enoch expressed genuine concern for him.

“Is it dead?” Enoch asked Jake. Jake was surprised that this was Enoch’s second question, and not his first, but then again, Enoch’s brain worked differently from his, something he had figured out a while ago, so there was no point in trying to understand where and why Enoch’s mind went to certain places when it did.

“Yeah. I think so. It hasn’t moved. We should get Bronwyn to throw it overboard.” Jake suggested. The second Enoch heard the Hollow was dead, he let the skeleton that had been desperately trying to reboard the ship, fall back into its eternal slumber. The miniature heartbeat fading away, the buzz in his brain slipping into nonexistence. 

Enoch still hadn’t let go of Jake. He didn’t know if he was allowed to, nor did he know if he was allowed to keep holding him. Enoch had thought that Jake was going to die, that he’d never get the chance to hug the boy, to kiss him, to do anything he hadn’t had the courage to initiate. Enoch didn’t want to let go yet, he wanted to pull Jake in closer, he wanted to hug him, to _know_ that he was safe, to _feel_ that he was safe. Enoch really wanted to kiss Jake, however, he knew Jake wouldn’t be okay with that, so he took what he could get, two hands on Jake’s shoulders, pinning him to the ground as if he was going to be lifted away again. 

“Is everyone alright?” Miss Peregrine asked the group, looking to all of the faces standing in front of her. Olive put her gloves back on and went to Emma to help her off the ground. Emma had bruised and cut her knee pretty badly on her fall. She stood with most of her weight on her right leg, letting her injured knee relax a bit.

Jake looked over to Emma and noticed her knee. “Emma!” He said shocked. “Are you okay?” He asked concerned. Jake pulled out of Enoch’s grip to walk over to the girl and check on her. This drew Enoch’s attention to his sister. 

“It hurt you.” He said with the most hatred Jake had ever heard in Enoch’s voice. Jake had been slightly afraid of Enoch when he first met the boy, which was what he supposed Enoch was going for. It was a defense mechanism to keep people from getting close enough to hurt him, after all, if Enoch was the scariest thing in the room, nothing could hurt him, right? Jake was the most terrified of Enoch in that moment than he had ever been. Jake wasn’t concerned for himself, he knew he was safe. Enoch’s anger and hatred was directed at the Hollow, however, the look on the boys face and the tone in his voice told Jake that Enoch was capable of anything.

“I’m fine, I just need to wash it out before I get tetanus or something.” Emma said. Jake felt air pass him and saw motion, the next thing he knew Enoch was wrapping Emma in a bear hug. There was a small pang in Jake’s heart, wishing that, that was him. He didn’t know if he wanted to be Enoch or Emma in this scenario, and it confused him endlessly.

“Are you okay, Jake?” Olive asked quietly next to him.

“Yeah. I’m fine. It didn’t hurt me at all, and Enoch broke my fall. Jake remembered the moment he fell into Enoch’s arms. It was more like he fell onto Enoch and Enoch had enough balance to keep them both from falling over. Jake remembered staring into Enoch’s eyes for what felt like eternity but was only seconds to the rest of the group. He wondered if it felt like forever to Enoch as well, or if it was just him that got lost in those deep, worrying eyes that told him that the only thing on Enoch’s mind was Jake’s safety. Jake had seen intense sorrow sparkle behind concern. He wondered if Hollows reminded Enoch of Victor, if they brought back memories of his lost brother. 

Olive opened her arms to offer Jake a hug, which he gladly took. “I’m glad you’re okay.” She said sweetly in his ear.

Emma let go of Enoch. Enoch looked back at Olive. When he noticed her and Jake hugging, Jake saw jealousy bubble back to the surface. He had thought they were past this, but apparently Enoch still saw Jake as a threat. What Jake didn’t know was that Enoch was jealous of Olive, he had been wanting to hug Jake since the second he caught him. Enoch wanted to hold Jake in his arms to remind himself that he was still here, that he was safe and unharmed. 

When Olive let go, she noticed the staring contest Enoch and Jake were having. They had both been staring at each other wishing that they were holding the other, rather than the women they had been holding, yet they disguised it behind a petty competition. Olive could see through their guise, she could see the lust in their eyes, the want, the longing. She walked to Enoch and hugged him. She knew they were still staring at each other; she could feel Enoch’s glare over her shoulder. She ended the hug, knowing that Enoch always let the other person dictate how long the hug lasted from sheer anxiety. Olive kept her hands on his ribs when she pulled back and looked up at him. “We’re okay.” She reminded him before letting go and helping Emma inside.

Jake awkwardly stood in-front of Enoch. They continued staring at each other, not sure what to do. Jake decided he needed to be the first one to make a move. It wasn’t that weird, they had both just hugged everyone else, it wasn’t weird. He had to keep reminding himself. Miss Peregrine had gone below deck to inform the kids that the ship was safe, so Enoch and Jake were alone there. “Can I hug you?” Jake asked. He wanted to walk closer to Enoch right then and close the gap between them, but his feet were planted firmly on the ground not getting any closer until Enoch verbally told him it was okay. Jake had picked up on Enoch’s discomfort with touch, he didn’t know when Enoch was uncomfortable with it, as he tended to touch Olive and Claire a lot, and Jake didn’t know _what_ made Enoch uncomfortable, so he knew he needed to ask. Jake understood now that he always needed to ask before touching Enoch in any meaningful way. A shoulder touch here and there was okay, Enoch hadn’t said anything to him or given him any glares or uncomfortable looks when he had placed a hand on Enoch’s shoulder in the past or tapped his arm to get his attention. Jake didn’t need to ask for everything, but he understood that anything that could have any emotional significance, he needed to ask before executing. 

“Okay.” Enoch said uncomfortably. Jake took one step closer but paused when he noticed the hesitation in Enoch’s voice. Enoch wanted desperately to hug Jake, but he needed to hide how desperate he was. Enoch was also not used to people asking him for hugs, normally, if they, Olive or Claire, wanted one, they just gave him one, Jake was the only person to consistently ask. Enoch didn’t mind the asking, in reality, he preferred it, it allowed him a chance to say ‘no’ without feeling bad, and it allowed him time to react and prepare; however, he hadn’t yet learned how to respond in a way that didn’t sound awkward or desperate. Enoch had to choose between the two, so he chose awkward.

“It’s okay if you aren’t comfortable with it.” Jake assured, trying to gauge the discomfort in Enoch’s voice. Jake didn’t want to make Enoch uncomfortable, so he wasn’t going to hug him without an enthusiastic ‘yes’.

“No, I want to.” Enoch said, still sounding uncomfortable. Jake then realized he wasn’t going to get anything but awkwardness from Enoch simply because he wasn’t used to this with Jake yet, not because he didn’t want to hug the boy. Jake decided to break his new rule about enthusiasm, after all, what was he thinking? He was never going to get anything even remote to enthusiasm from Enoch about anything. 

“You’re sure?” Jake tested one last time.

“Yes.” There was annoyance in Enoch’s voice now, which told Jake that Enoch really did want the hug. Jake darted forward and wrapped his arms under Enoch’s, trying not to stall any longer before Enoch got any more upset for the waste of time. Enoch preferred those hugs, he didn’t feel as trapped, he had full use of his arms which meant he could pull the person off of him at any moment or fight off any outside attackers. Enoch knew that it was ridiculous for his brain to plan like that, no one was going to attack him while he’s hugging someone, yet, his body didn’t like the feeling of being immobilized in any capacity. He felt Jake drawing circles on his back with his fingers and Enoch almost melted from the touch. He was getting waves of tingles up his spine stemming from every point of contact. 

Jake’s stomach dropped the second he was in Enoch’s arms. He felt his heart speed up and he could hear his own breath loudly. Jake felt Enoch’s chest rising and falling against his body and it made heat swell in his face and neck. Jake felt weak, almost like he was melting, he was glad he was holding onto Enoch, because if he wasn’t, he probably wouldn’t have been able to keep himself standing. 

It was a weird feeling that Jake didn’t quite understand. He hadn’t felt this way the first time he had hugged Enoch in Enoch’s room the night before. Jake had been focused on his breakup with Emma, the hug had left him feeling safe and cared for. The hug was soothing and relaxing, this was jittery and filled with excitement and anxiety. What had changed? Was it the near-death experience? Was Jake just coming down from fight or flight? Was his body just exhausted from being under immense stress? Jake didn’t know if he would ever figure out why the reaction was different, so he decided it was best to leave it alone. There was no point obsessing over it if he wouldn’t get an answer. However, for the next few days, the next few weeks even, Jake couldn’t get the hug out of his head.

~

Jake and Enoch had become closer and closer, Enoch getting more and more comfortable around Jake, and Jake learning that Enoch’s humor was very much at Jake’s expense. Jake understood that though, he was an easy target and nothing Enoch said ever cut too deep or bothered Jake that much. Jake was able to embrace the little jabs and roll with it. Enoch was actually quite funny at times. Enoch still didn’t talk much, but when he did, there usually wasn’t any venom in his words. The only times Enoch was purposefully mean to Jake was when Jake had just startled him or walked in on him when he was exhibiting private emotions that Jake was not supposed to see. Jake had once walked in on a conversation between Olive and Enoch and had gotten a glare and the silent treatment for three hours, but Jake now understood that Enoch was just embarrassed. Jake got the most hate from Enoch when Jake would push him too hard on things. If Enoch was struggling with expressing his emotions, or was holding something back that he didn’t want to share with Jake, and Jake kept pushing, he would often get a malicious comment that stung a bit, but Jake knew it was his own fault for not respecting Enoch’s boundaries when he tried to set them.

Jake couldn’t get the hug out of his head; he had been pondering it for weeks. The scenario and feelings had played through his mind over and over again every night since it had happened. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get it out of his head. Why was the memory so stuck in his brain? Why had his hugs with Emma never felt like that? 

Jake’s hugs with Emma felt safe and warm, like he was hugging something that embodied safety. Almost as if Emma, in and of herself, symbolized safety. He had felt awkward at first when trying to hug her, but soon they calmed him, Emma had a calming presence for Jake. He wondered if Olive did that for Enoch, and that was why he was so comfortable around her, to touch her, to talk to her about his feelings. Emma had been sweet and safe, calming and caring, but Enoch was exciting, powerful, and invigorated Jake’s entire being. 

Enoch sent chills down Jake’s spine when he gave Jake that intense stare he so often did, across the dinner table or when they were working on the boat together. The light brush of Enoch’s hand against Jake’s when they were navigating together and Enoch wanted to get Jake’s attention, sent warmth all the way through Jake’s neck and face. The sharp looks Enoch would give Jake when he would say something that interested Enoch would make Jake weak in the knees, turning him into puddy. The way Enoch would say Jake’s name so softly and filled with affection late at night when watching Horace’s dreams made Jake’s heart skip a beat. The way the words “More than you know” would dance in Jake’s head, kept him up at night.

Jake had an idea. He knew that Emma and Enoch were two very different people and the way he felt about them would differ, however, his thought was that if he hugged Emma and he felt nothing, nothing even close to the way he felt when he hugged Enoch, that would mean that Jake no longer had feelings for Emma. There was no question on whether he had feelings for Enoch at this point, but Jake refused to make any advancements toward Enoch until he was positive he was over Emma. Jake’s Experiment wasn’t to find out if he had ever loved Emma, he had stopped trying to figure that out at this point, he just needed to know if he loved her right now. Jake had mulled it over in his mind for the longest time, whether he had ever actually loved Emma the way that he had thought he had, but he had gotten nowhere. Jake had no idea whether his feelings for Emma had stemmed from the love he had of the stories of her when he was young, the way being around her made him feel like a child back with his grandfather, or if he had truly loved her for the amazing person she was, the person that made everyone around her fall slightly in love, even if only platonically. 

Emma was intoxicating and all-consuming, her personality intense but she was gentle and sweet. Enoch was intense but in an entirely different way. Enoch was intensely loyal, his love was fierce but nurturing. Jake had gotten to a point where he felt safer with Enoch than he did with almost anyone else, save for possibly Emma. Enoch was the type of person that would keep your secret no matter what. He didn’t trust easily, but now that Jake had gained his trust, he knew that it would take a lot to lose it. Jake didn’t want to get Enoch out of his head. The mere thought of Enoch left him feeling happy and warm inside. Jake’s stomach dropped every time Enoch said his name with that inquisitive look on his face. The amount of care that Enoch had for Jake left Jake stumped. He had never felt more loved by someone so distant with their feelings. Enoch didn’t talk about his feelings much, he didn’t open up, but his eyes were the most revealing thing about him, they revealed how much he truly cared for Jake, and the amount of concern Enoch had for the boy anytime he would so much as stub his toe. It left Jake questioning how they had come so far.

Enoch had hated Jake, despised him even, but now, he was sitting next to him every night at movie-time, he was searching Jake out to help him with his necromancy. When Enoch and Jake were alone, Enoch even trusted him enough to wear the leather jacket he had retrieved from the future. Enoch would ask Jake about his day or his feelings in the only way he knew how. Enoch wasn’t good at keeping conversations going, he didn’t know the right questions to ask to keep someone talking, even when he wanted them to, but Jake had caught on, Jake had learned when Enoch was actively interested in what he was saying and when he was bored and didn’t care. Jake had figured out that when Enoch stayed silent after Jake had finished saying something, instead of changing the subject, he was waiting for Jake to continue.

Jake decided he needed to search Emma out. Jake needed to find her to test whether it was an appropriate time to pursue Enoch romantically, because he really, really, wanted to. Jake shot out of bed where he had been pondering this all over in his mind. He jogged down the hallway of cabins to find Emma’s room. He stopped in front of her door, anxious to knock and ask her to provide him with something they hadn’t done since the breakup. The last few weeks had given Jake and Emma the time that they needed to be able to interact with one another without any awkwardness, however, they hadn’t pushed the boundaries too much yet, neither of them had touched the other and they had both given each other a good amount of distance between themselves. 

Jake worked up the courage to knock. She would be okay with this, they had had enough time, this should be an okay thing to ask. Jake knocked on the door and heard the sound of metal shoes hitting metal floor, a sound that Jake had noticed often made Enoch flinch. Emma must have been sitting in bed. A moment later the door creaked open to reveal Emma’s face.

“Jake.” She said fondly. “How can I help you?” Emma asked in her kind voice.

“I have a weird favor to ask you. Do you mind if I come in?” Jake asked.

“Of course.” Emma stepped aside and opened the door more. She was in her pajamas, white shorts and a white tank top. “What do you need?” Emma asked.

“It’s kind of weird to ask, but…” Jake paused; he was giving himself a chance to back out. The words “more than you know” crept back into Jake’s mind and it encouraged him to continue. Jake had to know if he was ready to move on; and this was the best way he could think of to give himself a definitive answer. “Can I have a hug?” Jake asked.

“Is that your request?” Emma chuckled a little. 

“Yeah.” Jake responded, not sure of her reaction.

“That’s it? I thought you needed something actually difficult.” Emma said. “Of course I can help you with that. Is everything alright?” She asked concerned.

“Yeah, It’s kind of an experiment. I need to know for sure if I’m over us. It’s a way to know if I’ve moved on, if I _can_ move on.” Jake explained. He figured she had a right to know _why._ If Jake was going to use her in an experiment, she should understand what he was using her for. 

“Oh, of course you’d come up with some scientific way to figure out emotions.” Emma said. Jake wanted to argue that what he was doing was nothing even close to science, but he figured he would let it be and just hug the girl in front of him. 

Jake opened his arms and leaned toward Emma. She responded by stepping into the hug, wrapping her one arm under Jake’s and slinging the other over his shoulder in a padlock hug. Emma smelt of faint floral perfume and ash. She must have been around Olive today. The smell reminded Jake of Enoch who always smelled like his sister’s ash. The hug was awkward at first, but Jake eased into it quickly and it soon became soothing. He didn’t feel anything in his stomach telling him he wanted more than what he was receiving right now. There was no lust, there was no ache in his heart that he was getting what he had always wanted, there wasn’t even a faint trickle of anxiety down his spine or in his chest. Jake felt content with this hug, nothing more, nothing less. Emma was soft and warm, but she had such a small frame that Jake held her with a light grip, not wanting to hurt her even though he knew he couldn’t with his upper body strength, or lack thereof.

Emma pulled away, letting one hand slide to his shoulder, the other to his side as she held him an arms-length away from her to look at him. “Did that help? Do you have your answer?” She asked genuinely curious.

“I think I do.” Jake said. “Thank you, Emma. You really are an amazing person.” He said. “I have to go!” Jake said excitedly.

“Wait! Aren’t you going to tell me?” Emma called after Jake as he ran out of her room with a wide smile on his face. The answer to Emma’s question was apparently ‘no’ Jake was not going to tell her.

~

Jake bolted back down the hall until he hit Enoch’s cabin. Jake Knocked on the door. He knew it was late enough that most of the kids were in bed, but the older kids were always awake. Jake heard shuffling before the door swung open. He was met by a face he was not expecting. Standing before him was not Enoch, but a skeleton with a top hat. Jake looked at the skeleton in silence, the skeleton looked back. They stood like that until Enoch called out. “Who’s there?” He sounded annoyed that no one had spoken yet.

“It’s just me.” Jake said. “Who’s this?” He asked.

“He doesn’t have a name.” Enoch said. “I don’t name them.” He had never named his puppets because he made them just to destroy them. Besides, the skeletons used to be people and Enoch felt it disrespectful to assign a name to someone who had already had one once.

“No name, but I notice you gave it pronouns.” Jake quipped. Enoch’s attention was elsewhere. “What’s with the top hat?” Jake asked after a moment of no response.

“Horace found it. He said it wasn’t his style but shouldn’t go to waist.” Enoch explained. 

“I like the idea of decorating them so we can tell them apart. Gives them some individuality.” Jake said. He stood there, still face to face with a skeleton who wasn’t moving aside to let him in. Jake couldn’t see Enoch, the skeleton and the door blocked wherever in the room Enoch was. “Can I come in?” Jake asked uncomfortably with the skeleton staring at him with a lifeless expression.

“Is he not letting you in?” Enoch asked, he sounded annoyed. Jake wondered if Enoch had been having issues with this skeleton.

“No.” Jake said.

“Sorry.” Enoch said. The skeleton moved to the side, letting Jake push the door open more and walk into the room. It didn’t go past Jake that this was the first time Enoch had ever apologized to him, even if it was over something so small and insignificant.

“Can I speak to you alone about something?” Jake asked. He then noticed that Enoch was working on new puppets at his desk. Great. More creepy dolls. Jake really hated dolls. Enoch didn’t say a word, he just put his tools down and the skeleton walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. “Thanks.” Jake said.

Jake stepped toward Enoch who was looking up at Jake with unfairly beautiful eyes that had a question written in them. Jake swallowed hard at the sight. He had lost all of his words. Jake wouldn’t have had this reaction if this had been a normal conversation, but with the knowledge of what he was about to do in the back of his mind, everything Enoch did affected him so much more.

Jake’s silent, doe-eyed staring concerned Enoch. He stood up out of his seat and stepped in front of Jake, putting a hand on his shoulder as Jake had a hand on the desk propping himself up. “Are you okay, Jake? You’re…uncomfortably still.” Enoch said. Jake bit his lip, losing himself in Enoch’s eyes.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” Jake said, so quiet it was almost a whisper. Enoch didn’t believe this fully, but the words let him relax a little. “I’ve just had a lot on my mind. Regarding Emma, regarding me and Emma-“ Enoch’s eyes darted to the floor, he was visibly uncomfortable. Jake felt the need to chase his eyes, but he held himself together enough to stay put. “regarding you.” Jake finished. Enoch’s gaze shot back up to meet Jake’s eyes. Jake could see excitement flash in them before Enoch disguised it with a hard stare. Jake would have thought that Enoch was upset with him if he hadn’t just seen the flicker of hope burn brightly a moment before. Enoch licked his lips subconsciously and it was the most attractive thing Jake thought he had ever seen. “I’ve been trying to figure out my place on this ship, in your lives. I’ve been trying to figure out what I _want_ my place to be.” Jake continued.

“And what do you want your place to be?” Enoch asked. Jake was often taken aback by how genuine Enoch was at times. There were moments the man had where his entire being was enveloped in an activity or a story or a sentence. Jake would catch Enoch hanging on his every word. The genuine interest, the whole-heartedness that Enoch could put into something or someone was something that Jake deeply admired.

“With you?” Jake asked rhetorically. Enoch leaned in slightly from anticipation, waiting for Jake’s response. His head was tilted downward as he looked up at Jake through eyelashes. Their foreheads almost touching now. Jake honestly didn’t know how to answer the question he had just pigeonholed himself into. Jake didn’t know what he wanted from Enoch, not in much detail anyway. Jake wanted many things from Enoch but what he wanted most of all was Enoch’s happiness, so Jake was content with whatever Enoch was capable of giving him. Jake didn’t know how to have a conversation about what he wanted from Enoch when he wanted so much but needed nothing. Jake decided that action would be an easier way to express how he was feeling toward the man. “I want to kiss you. _Can_ I kiss you?” Jake whispered softly.

Enoch stared at Jake in shock for a moment, it looked as though he was frozen in time. Eventually, Enoch moved when he slowly nodded in response. There was a sad look on his face, his eyebrows were quirked upward and his mouth slightly tilted downward in a frown. There was a small voice in Enoch’s head that told him he didn’t deserve this, not after pushing Jake away so hard for so long, not after treating him the way he had. Enoch worried he would hurt Jake, that he would get scared and push him away, that he would push him far enough that Jake would leave forever. Enoch had been wanting Jake since the boy showed back up on the ship, possibly even before that. There was a small part of him that wondered if some of his original hatred toward Jake was over his own attraction to him. Enoch pushed his worries aside, reminding himself that there was no way of knowing what would happen if he didn’t give Jake a chance. Maybe Enoch wouldn’t push Jake away? Maybe Jake wouldn’t leave? And maybe Enoch wouldn’t get hurt because of his own actions? 

“Yes.” Enoch managed to croak out with a rasp when he noticed Jake wasn’t going to move until he verbally answered the question.

Jake smiled sweetly, placing a hand on Enoch’s cheek and slowly leaning in to press a tender kiss against Enoch’s lips. It was slow, tentative, and caring. Neither one was sure of what they were doing. Enoch brought a hand up to rest on Jake’s hip and the other hand cupped the back of Jake’s neck. Enoch pulled Jake closer, so their bodies were against each other. Both boys were slightly awkward at first but quickly found a rhythm at their slow pace. The kiss was sweet and soft and Jake felt his heart swelling in his chest. He almost wanted to make some cheesy joke about the necromancer making his heart come to life, but he didn’t want to ruin the moment and get hit in the arm by an embarrassed Enoch.

Enoch’s entire body felt like it was on fire and his head felt like it was filled with helium, about to float away. He had to pull back when a wave of lust washed over him. Enoch was uncomfortable with those feelings, the intensity scared him, and he didn’t want to do something without a level head. Enoch had enough self-control to pull back slowly instead of tearing himself away, but the second his lips were no longer intertwined with Jake’s, he felt lonely. He wanted Jake’s lips back.

“Wow.” Jake said. “Can we do that again?” He joked, but Enoch ignored the joking aspect and answered honestly.

“You don’t have to ask tonight.” Enoch responded, giving Jake unlimited access for the rest of that night. Jake wouldn’t have to ask Enoch before kissing him. Jake stared at Enoch for a moment in awe. A sense of pride washed over him that Enoch was trusting him with this privilege. Jake smiled wildly like the dork he knew he was inside. He was sure he looked like a madman. How far they had come, that Enoch was willing to give that much trust away to Jake. “Can I?” Enoch asked. Jake nodded frantically.

“You never have to ask.” Jake said, giving Enoch unlimited permission, unless Jake rescinded his consent at any time. Enoch smiled a smile that Jake would never forget. It was filled with love and admiration. What had Enoch done to deserve this? What did he do to stumble upon someone like Jake? No one else, aside from Olive, would have taken the time to figure Enoch out, to observe what made him comfortable and uncomfortable, no one else would have cared long enough to stick around. Anyone else, with the ability to leave, would have gotten bored or fed up with Enoch’s antics long ago, but not Jake.

Jake leaned in enough that his face was less than an inch from Enoch’s, he could feel Enoch’s breath on his and Enoch could feel Jake’s. Jake was inviting Enoch in for another kiss. He didn’t close the gap completely because he knew he needed to give Enoch time to react. Enoch closed the gap with more force than the first kiss. This kiss was heavier, faster, filled with lust and yearning. Both boys wanted the other more desperately than either had realized. Jake wanted Enoch’s touch on his skin, he wanted his tongue on his neck. Enoch wanted Jake’s fingernails on his back, digging into his hips, roaming his body.

Enoch brought his hand up to brace the back of Jake’s head, his fingers tangling in Jake’s short hair. Jake tugged at Enoch’s sweater, giving him a non-verbal indication that he wanted the article gone. Enoch let out an unintentional growl in the back of his throat and kissed Jake harder. He turned themselves around so that Jake’s back was to Enoch’s bed. Enoch backed Jake up into the bed, forcing him to sit down. Enoch leaned over Jake, which was a change in pace, as Jake was usually much taller than Enoch. Jake brought his hand up to Enoch’s neck and pulled him closer, forcing Enoch to place a knee on the bed beside Jake to stabilize himself.

Jake slithered the hand that had been propping himself up, around to rest on Enoch’s hip, slipping his fingers under Enoch’s sweater. Enoch was now the only thing keeping Jake from falling backward. With the new weight of Jake pulling him down, Enoch now had to place his hand on the bed to not fall over, but to be able to do this, he had to push Jake on his back which elicited a sound from the boy’s throat that Enoch had never heard before, but he wanted to hear it again. 

Jake was appreciating Enoch taking charge and positioning him the way that Enoch wanted him. Jake didn’t mind leading, he led people in all types of situations, he had a leader personality, however, something about his dynamic with Enoch was different. Jake didn’t mind being in charge, being in control of situations, and he didn’t mind guiding _Enoch_ through situations either, but it was nice to have this time where he didn’t have to think, he didn’t have to strategize or come up with a plan, he could just sit back and enjoy. It was nice that Enoch wasn’t looking to him for direction in that moment; which isn’t to say Enoch wasn’t watching Jake’s reactions carefully to gauge how he was feeling and what he was liking.

Enoch wanted Jake to make that sound again. He didn’t know how to make it happen, but he was determined to find something. Enoch’s body was now hovering over Jake’s as Jake laid on his back on Enoch’s bed. Enoch slowly ran a hand under Jake’s shirt which made Jake hum against Enoch’s mouth. Enoch smiled into Jake’s lips from the reaction he received. Enoch let his hand wander over Jake’s stomach and chest, feeling Jake’s body react to the touch. When Enoch’s hand moved away, Jake’s chest chased the contact, trying to find Enoch’s hand again. Enoch complied with Jake’s wishes and brought his hand back to the boy’s chest.

Jake placed his hands on Enoch’s waist and pulled him fully on the bed so that Enoch was straddling Jake’s body. They stared at each other for a moment smiling and breathing heavily with their foreheads pressed together. 

“Do you want to go further?” Jake asked. Enoch stiffened slightly staring at Jake longer than Jake would have liked with a scared expression on his face.

“No.” Enoch said, head shaking ‘no’ in tiny rapid movements, anxiety evident in his voice. What if this was it? What if this was what pushed Jake away, made him leave? Enoch knew he was being irrational, Jake hadn’t left when Emma had broken up with him, why would he leave now? But Enoch’s deepest insecurities and fears decided that now was the best time to come out, and there was no amount of rationalization that would stop him from feeling these fears.

“That’s okay.” Jake assured, smiling. “This is good.” Jake didn’t need anything more for now, or ever, for that matter, he was willing to wait for Enoch however long it took, even if that day never came. Jake had no expectations of Enoch, he didn’t need anything from him other than affection. If Enoch became comfortable to do more with Jake, Jake would be happy, but if Enoch never got to that place, Jake was perfectly content with that too. When Enoch continued to look unsure of himself Jake decided he needed to up his reassurance. “This is enough.” He said. “ _You’re_ enough.” Jake could feel Enoch’s body relax on top of him. He was no longer staring terrified at the boy underneath him. Jake must have found the magic words.

Enoch had never heard those words before. No one had ever told him that he was enough. Enoch knew that he had people who felt that way about him, Olive and Miss Peregrine were two perfect examples, yet, something about _hearing_ the words really made them sink in, really made him believe it. Enoch’s eyebrows were doing the thing they did when they knitted together and he looked like an injured puppy. Jake knew that he had said the right thing, yet the look on Enoch’s face, the look like he was about to cry made Jake want to kiss everything better.

Enoch just stared at Jake’s face for a long moment, taking everything in. Jake reached a hand up to rest on Enoch’s cheek as he stared back. Those eyes, they were piercing. Jake’s Eyes cut through all of the defenses Enoch had ever built around him, leaving Enoch defenseless and vulnerable. A small whimper escaped Enoch when Jake subconsciously bit his lip. Enoch’s face immediately turned bright red with embarrassment, which Jake found endearing. He kissed Enoch softly to let him know he appreciated the verbal feedback. Heat rose in Enoch’s chest as he kissed back, deepening the kiss again. Jake brought his arms up to roam Enoch’s body as they kissed. Enoch kissed his way down to Jake’s neck.

“Is it okay if the shirts come off?” Jake asked. He wanted to respect what Enoch was comfortable with doing but he also wanted to see Enoch without a shirt. Enoch nodded enthusiastically in the crook of Jake’s neck. Apparently, Enoch _was_ capable of enthusiasm. A jolt of electricity ran through Jake’s body. He hooked his fingers under Enoch’s sweater and started to pull it off. Enoch leaned back so that Jake could pull the sweater over his head. Once Enoch’s sweater was off, he went to work on removing Jake’s t-shirt. There was a fire in Jake’s eyes that Enoch couldn’t help but stare at, as he tossed the shirt across the room behind him.

Jake ran his hand down Enoch’s newly freed chest, taking the sight in so that he’d never forget it. Enoch observed Jake’s reaction with fondness. Jake pulled Enoch back down by the back of the neck, he then rolled them over so that Jake was now on top, laying between Enoch’s legs. Jake looked down at Enoch, staring in his eyes. “I think I love you.” He said softly. The walls around Enoch’s heart rapidly tried to build themselves back up, but Jake’s eyes staring into his soul kept them at bay. Enoch was still defenseless, left stranded to confess his deepest secrets, the things that could destroy him, the things that could break him. His greatest fear was losing control, getting too close, and getting hurt.

Enoch wanted to run, but Jake’s stare held him in place. He wanted to fight, assault Jake with words to push him away, stop him from getting so close to the truth, to Enoch’s heart; but the love in Jake’s eyes, the love in his voice, the love in the way he touched Enoch, stopped him. Enoch was frozen in place with no alternative, no way around what he felt, he had to let his guard down, and he had to tell the truth. “I hate you-” He said fondly, chuckling slightly. Jake knew there was no truth behind _those_ words, so he let Enoch continue, smiling stupidly at the man under him while he waited. “I love you.” The second those words left his lips his walls built back up slightly. _Finally_! “How dare you! I was perfectly happy without you, you know? What nerve you have to come in here and make me feel this way? I’ll never forgive you.” Enoch’s humor defense was back, but Jake didn’t mind it. He had gotten what really mattered out of Enoch, he got the truth. Enoch used humor to distance himself from others and his feelings, and since Enoch wasn’t actively pushing Jake away, Jake wasn’t going to try and break this barrier again, Enoch could have it as long as he needed it. 

“I really am a little shit.” Jake joked back at Enoch, leaning down and giving him a peck on the lips. When he leaned back again he noticed a new look on Enoch’s face. He was questioning something and scared to ask it. “What’s wrong?” Jake asked. Enoch didn’t answer right away, trying to think of how to answer.

“What are we? What do we call each other now? You said you had been thinking a lot about your relation to me…so…what is it? What are we?” These were more words than Jake thought he had ever heard Enoch speak without an insult being attached somewhere in them. 

“A couple? If that’s what you want? If you’re okay to be my significant other? It’s what I’d like, but, I meant what I said, You’re enough. I’m happy with whatever you can give me.” Jake said. “I just want you in my life.” Enoch didn’t respond right away, instead he gave Jake another kiss. This one was slow and soft, there was a sweetness about it that made Jake know everything was going to work out.

“I’d like that. So…I’m you’re partner now?” Enoch asked.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Jake answered.

“So that means you don’t have to testify against me in a murder trial.” Enoch said.

“That’s marriage.” Jake corrected. “Why is that the first place your mind goes to?” Jake laughed. He had made the best decision of his life when he decided to chase this ship down and join the peculiars.

There was a large crash outside their door followed by Emma’s voice. “Enoch!” She had fallen over the pile of bones and top hat in front of Enoch’s door. Enoch had gotten too distracted by Jake that his necromanced skeleton was now inanimate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off...THANK YOU FOR READING!!!!!
> 
> If anyone wants me to write an Emma/Olive story where they create a romantic bond while Olive is helping Emma move on from Abe, tell me in the comments. I think it would be an interesting ship to explore.  
> I would also write a platonic, sisterly fic with the same plot if people are more interested in that, where Emma and Olive grow closer from the pain of losing Abe. 
> 
> Also, I know I'm not the best writer, I just do this for fun, so please don't think too harshly of me.
> 
> (I'm on the Miss Peregrines Amino if anyone wants to find me there, my name is Devilpup.)


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